


Burned

by LadyJanriel



Series: Burned-verse [1]
Category: Frozen (2013)
Genre: Cameos, Drama, Family, Fire Abilities, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-23
Updated: 2015-05-26
Packaged: 2018-03-31 21:19:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 37,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3993244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyJanriel/pseuds/LadyJanriel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Elsa was certain Anna hadn't been born with magic of any kind, so why was it that her sister was suddenly able to do so? And did it really have to be fire?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on FF.net in 2014, bringing it here. 
> 
> I'll post one chapter a day until it's complete. "A Queen in Regency" is the follow up and then afterwards it's "Cursed" but I won't be posting those until this story is completed here.
> 
> Also, there's a bunch of cameo characters from other Disney movies in this story as well, but they're minor.

The first time she saw it was on a bright summer's day, when sleep addled eyes cracked and teared beneath the blinding ray of warm light. She'd moaned and whined; tried to curl beneath her covers for extra sleep, but the light of day proved persistent—that ray of light ever maddening. Princess Anna of Arendelle heaved a heavy defeated sigh and rose from the comfort of her sheets to embrace the dawn of a new day.

With a tangled nest of hair perched on her head like a faux crown and a trail of drool curling around the edge of her chin, she stiffly climbed out of her haven of warmth and stumbled toward her mirror. She sat with a plop on top of her cushioned stool and reached blindly for her brush. A few of her perfumes and lotions toppled over at her clumsiness, but her sleep fogged mind barely registered he loud clatter of noise. Her fingers grazed the bristle end of her brush, and, with a tired smile of victory, began the arduous task of disentangling her long locks of hair.

It was then, through the bleariness of her exhausted eyes, did she see it. Subtle, even beneath the ray of light, but shining bright like a beacon to all things wrong and unnatural, lay a strand of hair the color of the setting sun deeply entangled within strawberry locks.

Red hair against strawberry blonde.

She blinked.

That wasn't normal.

"Wha—?"

She ran the brush through, sorting out and disentangling the hair disaster until it finally fell into a frizzy, wavy curtain of hair. With a dab of oil to tame the frizz, Anna re-braided her hair into a low hanging tails. She examined her scalp, blue eyes tracing the strange sunset red streak into the intricate flow of her braid until it disappeared near the ends.

She bit her lip.

"That's not good." She muttered, her reflection suddenly worried. "Nope, not good at all. Ok, ok," she breathed.

She pulled away from the vanity, her legs wandering around in nervous energy. "Ok so my hair is changing colors again. That doesn't mean anything right?" She asked the mirror, her reflection's expression steadily growing terrified. But as she expected, her refection gave no response. She turned away from the vanity, her nails wedged between her teeth.

"I mean, it meant something bad the first time but that was… that was different! That was Elsa's magic. This—" she turned to the mirror again, blue eyes honing in on the strange of hair. "I don't know what this is." She admitted, her voice soft. Uncertain.

She approached the vanity, still focused on the discoloration until a knock on the door jolted her out of her daze. She knocked the stool into the vanity, letting out a squeak of surprise as she tried to keep her things from spilling all over the ground.

"Your Royal Highness, are you ok?" she heard the maid ask from beyond the door. "My apologies for the disturbance, but her Majesty the Queen has inquired of your presence. Will you be eating breakfast with her Majesty?"

"Oh, uh, give me—give me a moment!" Anna cried, juggling her hair products. She dropped the mess onto her vanity, wincing at the disorganization but decided the maids would sort out the mess once she was gone for breakfast.

With one last uncertain glance to the mirror, Anna hurried to the door and joined the maid out in the hall.

"Ye-yes," She stammered then cleared her throat. "I mean—yes. I will join my sister for breakfast."

The maid gave the girl a placating smile. "Very well princess."

-x-X-x-

Anna played with her bacon nervously, her eyes trained solely on the meal laid out before her. Beside her, at the end of the long table that was much too vacant for merely two people, sat Queen Elsa. She delicately sliced into her breakfast with as much grace and poise as any trained Queen would and sweetly, slowly, chewed on the piece as though savoring the flavor despite knowing its tastes. Anna knew the show was mainly done out of habit as it was only the two of them at the table today.

For the first time in forever, the sisters were left to themselves and although the thought of being alone with Elsa excited her, Anna couldn't help but feel a little nervous. Eating meals with each other was something the young women were only beginning to get used to, but enjoyed their time spent greatly and coveted the chances they could get. Elsa made it a priority to always share a meal with Anna, no matter how busy her schedule became, she always found the time.

Today, Anna's nervousness came for a different reason. The streak of red in her hair felt more prominent now than it did that morning. And although she was certain Elsa hadn't spotted it—because she was certain the older woman would have commented worriedly about it—Anna felt like it was only a matter of time. She would tell if Elsa didn't noticed. She planned on telling, but sharing it so early in the morning when Elsa seemed so pleased to be with her, Anna didn't have the heart to ruin it with such news.

She could wait.

She will wait, for Elsa's happiness.

But as she mulled over her decision, she failed to notice the subtle way her older sister watched her movements with careful scrutiny.

Elsa noticed the way her baby sister sat with her back straight and rigid instead of the carefree slouch Anna was usually prone to when she wasn't being heckled by her tutor.

She observed the way Anna's left hand seemed to clamp and unclamp against the table cloth, as though the princess were making a conscious effort to keep her fingers from clenching.

She noted the way her sister's teeth would worry at the bottom of her lip, her warm blue eyes seemingly glued to the food she barely ate and merely allowed to cool. That on its own was sign to worry.

Elsa frowned, convinced her sister was troubled. She set down her utensils with a soft clank and softly cleared her throat. "Anna," She began, surprised with the way her sister grew stiff at her voice. "Is there something wrong?"

Anna blinked. She bit her bottom lip; twirled the throngs of her fork into the egg yolk and thought. They sat in silence for a moment: Elsa unsure if her sister had heard her question or if she was just simply ignoring it and Anna mulling over her options. A few more seconds in silence, Anna came to a conclusion. She turned to her sister with troubled eyes, her lips set in a grim line.

"Elsa—" She began but found her thoughts stopped, her voice lost.

Elsa tilted her head curiously. "Anna?"

The princess suddenly shook her head, a small smile shaping her gnawed on lips. "Never mind. Don't worry about me, I didn't sleep well last night. I'm just tired."

Elsa's brows furrowed again, her concern growing. "Anna, are you sure? You look troubled."

She reached out toward the girl, but grew hesitant just as her fingers reached Anna's face. She was mere inches away from Anna's cheek, when the princess gave her an encouraging smile and filled the gap between them. Elsa gently caressed the girl's cheek, her cool fingers easing the tension Anna wasn't aware she had.

"I'm alright Elsa," She smiled, blue eyes bright for the first time that morning. "I just need better sleep tonight. Promise."

Elsa gave an apprehensive smile. "Alright, but if there's anything wrong, you can always come to me. You know that, Anna."

Anna's smile was more genuine this time. "I know." She replied.

-x-X-x-

The second thing she noticed was the heat. Summer time in Arendelle weren't always so blistering, but there were times the air became so muggy with heat, Anna felt like she couldn't breathe. Summer was only just beginning and the heat of the season had yet to set in. Today felt like a scorcher to the Princess of Arendelle. Anna found that merely walking across the bridge to the town was like running a hundred laps around the mouth of a volcano.

She was hot.

She was sweaty, but most of all, she could barely breathe.

It was the third time within a time span of twenty minutes that she had to wave away the guards from assisting her. She had to constantly pacify their worries with the excuse of wearing a too-tight-corset underneath her dress and that was why she seemed so out of breath. Most of the guards were embarrassed by such an explanation, but Anna didn't care. She just wanted to get across the bridge and into the square without having them breathing down her neck.

By the time she reached the fountain, Anna was ready to collapse. She perched herself at the edge of the fountain, hoping the water would be enough to cool the unbearable heat that seemed to bear down on her like a persistent ray of light. She wiped the sweat from her brow with the back of her hand and threw her head back, closing her eyes against the brightness of the sky.

"Wooooh," she exhaled, feeling slightly better. "Is it really hot or is it just me? Summer only just started, it can't be this hot already. I guess we're going to have a hot one this year." She murmured, relaxing against the sound of pouring water.

She gazed out toward the mountains, catching the shimmering gleam of the frozen palace perched near the top of North Mountain. Her mind wandered back to the events of last year, when summer had frozen over and she and her sister were nearly killed at the hands of Hans. She shook her head of the memories, not wanting to think of sadder times and decided staying cool in the castle was a better idea than wandering the town in such heat.

"I wonder if Elsa can suffer a heat stroke." She mused out loud, an amused smile crossing her lips. "Or if having ice powers protects her from that."

She rose from her spot and nearly tumbled into the water fountain as a wave of vertigo overcame her. Anna stilled herself against the stones of the fountain, her eyes snapping shut. She waited until the dizziness passed before she felt she was stable enough to stand without support. She took in a shaky breath to still the erratic beating of her heart.

"Ok, going home is probably for the best right now." She muttered.

With one last glance at the ice palace, Anna hurried back toward the gates, a small part of her mind niggling with worry again.

-x-X-x-

Even within the cool confines of the castle, Anna felt like she were on fire. It was like the rays of the sun were still beating down on her, warming her skin and constricting her lungs.

The first thing she did once she reached the cool shadow of the castle was slip off her stockings and shoes.

The second thing she did was pin up her braids to keep her hair from suffocating her anymore.

The last thing she did was in the privacy of her bedroom.

She stripped off the light summer's dress and substituted it for a silk night gown that was more flowy and free than anything else in her wardrobe. She plopped on top of her bed, still sweaty and tired from the heat, but comfortable enough that she found it rather difficult to keep her eyelids from shutting.

The air around her was still uncomfortably warm. Her skin continued to boil beneath an imaginary sun, but at least the cool comfort of her silk sheets eased the worry that ate at the back of her mind. And as she laid there, thinking, breathing, just being, the stress of the day melted from her muscles and lulled her into a quick an uneasy slumber.

-x-X-x-

Elsa stared down at the documents piled neatly on top of her desk, her fountain pen hovering mere inches away from signing a new trade agreement with a neighboring kingdom. She stared at the words, yes seeing but not quite reading. In fact, were anyone to come into the study right now and see her, they would have thought the Queen was busy, but in truth, Queen Elsa's mind was not on trade agreements with Corona or passing new tax laws. It was focused on her sister and Anna's strange behavior that morning.

She had tried to brush it aside; had tried to accept her sister's words and focus on her work, but no matter what she did, Elsa found it was simply an impossible task.

She was worried.

Anna's behavior this morning was not normal. She always remembered her sister being rather rambunctious and klutzy. Anna was always happy and seemed to run her mouth off on some story or another, but her sullen, nervous demeanor had struck Elsa to the core. Something was not right with Anna and it pained Elsa to know that her sister didn't want to talk about it.

Elsa set aside the fountain pen and gazed hard at the trade agreement. Perhaps Anna didn't want her to worry? Anna was always trying to keep Elsa from worrying about the "little" things, as Anna was wont to call it. Anna had always tried to keep her troubles to herself, but Elsa was not only the Queen, but her big sister as well, and it bothered her—saddened her even—when Anna felt she needed to keep her troubles private.

Whatever trouble her little sister was having, Elsa wanted to know.

_And until I do, this will just have to wait._ She thought, setting aside the documents.

Elsa rose from the uncomfortable chair and straightened her back, hearing it pop and crack in a few places that made her hum in relief. With an amused smile, she turned to glance at the sky, making note of the sheer beauty of the day.

_Anna will probably be outside._ She mused, straightening out her dress. "With Kristoff, perhaps." She chuckled, though the humor died just as quickly as it began. _But, perhaps not._ Her mind supplied, recalling the bouts of arguing, the disagreements and the tears that had been shed during Anna and Kristoff's time as a couple.

Their break up had not been recent—it'd occurred seven months ago if Elsa was correct—but even with the passage of time, Elsa had come to notice that Anna did not spend much of her time with the blond ice harvester since then. And despite being on friendly terms; despite having awkward but friendly conversations on the time Kristoff came over to the castle or a run-in in town, Elsa noticed that Anna did not appear to be quite as happy around the blond as she was around her.

Elsa sighed, brushing away the memories to tackle more important matters at hand.

_Whatever is troubling her now, I'll be sure to be there, as promised._ She determined, and with that thought, Elsa walked out of the study in search of her sister.

-x-X-x-

Anna tossed and turned in bed, her legs entangling themselves in silk blankets. She strained against the hold, kicking at an invisible force; her hands grasping at nothing. Her mouth opened to scream, but nothing came to her lips. Anna's hand shot into the air as though she were reaching for something when something bright illuminated the room and heat so intense flashed through her body.

Anna awoke with an ear piercing scream, her eyes wide and her heart racing. She grasped tightly to her heaving chest, sweat trickling down her brow despite the coolness of the room. Something flickered in the corner of her eye, another seemed to crackle by her ear. Anna glanced upward toward the ceiling and screamed again.

The canopy of her bed had caught fire.

"Oh no! Oh no!" She wailed, scrambling to get out of bed "Elsa! ELSA!" she screamed, tumbling to the floor in a tangled heap of sheets and freckled limbs. "Get off!" She struggled against the blankets, a part of her mind throwing obscenities at herself for her erratic sleep habits; another part seemed to shut down on all logical thinking as panic began to seep into her veins.

Before Anna could disentangle herself from the cocoon of blankets, a whoosh of cold wind blew past her and into the canopy. Frost crept along the wooden pillars as the cold wind and snow blew out the fire eating away at her bed curtain.

The princess heaved a thankful sigh as Elsa and a few guards came hurrying into the room.

"Anna!" Elsa cried, wrapping protective arms around the girl. "Are you hurt? Did you get burned? What happened? How did the bed catch fire? Anna, say something!"

Anna pushed Elsa away gently—at least enough to allow her to breathe—while the guards busied themselves with freeing the princess's legs from her trap of death.

"I don't know," the strawberry blonde admitted, still breathless from all the panicked screaming. "I was taking a nap and then, I guess I must have had a nightmare or something, because I woke up freaked out and terrified and then, just out of nowhere, I looked up and saw the canopy was on fire!" Anna pulled her sister close again, burying her face into the older girl's bosom, while missing the look of confused worry that had crossed everyone's faces. "I don't know how it started, it was just there." She finished.

"Shhh, easy there Anna," Elsa cooed, soothing the girl's head. "I'm just glad you're all right."

"Could it have been an attack?" One of the guards questioned in a barely hushed tone. "Here?"

"Impossible!" The other spoke, his lips in a scowl. "For an assassin to get past the front gates, let alone to the princess's room—"

"Enough!" Elsa commanded, her tone hard. Eyes cold. The temperature in the room seemed to follow her displeasure as a slight chill crept along their spines. "I will not hear any more of this. Sweep the castle for anything suspicious. I want a guard in every entrance way. No one gets in or out without my knowing, is that understood?"

"Yes your majesty!" the men recited, backs straight as a board, arms raised in salute.

Elsa carefully helped her sister to her feet, her arms still wrapped protectively around the young princess as she eyed the two men for a moment. She gave them a nod of approval then dismissed herself and Anna from their presence.

She led Anna down the hall, a part of her pleased with the guards' initiative to start investigating the fire despite not being instructed to do so.

The girls didn't speak until they reached Elsa's room and even then, no word was spoken until Elsa locked the door with a soft click. She turned to her sister, who was silently playing with a braid that had come loose during her fitful nap. Elsa remained by the door, her hands resting in front of her out of worry rather than habit and cleared her throat.

Anna glanced her way, her large blue eyes ever grateful. "Thank you," She sighed, her voice heavy with appreciation.

Elsa waved away the gratitude and joined her sister on the bed. She grabbed Anna's hands and stared deeply into the young girl's eyes for a moment. When seconds passed in silence in which Elsa merely stared into Anna's eyes, the princess of Arendelle felt the insistent heat plague her once more. This time, it didn't feel quite as suffocating and unbearable as the first time; it didn't boil the blood in her veins nor did it seem to burn her skin from inside out. It was warm, like the soft warm one would feel when surrounded by a fur coat, or sitting close to a freshly made fire.

It was nice. It was relaxing. And Anna couldn't help but think it was because of Elsa's natural aura of coolness. The cold of her sister balanced the unbearable heat that seemed to have found residence within Anna's body.

But why was that?

Why was she so unbearably hot lately?

Summer had only just begun, the heat couldn't have been so intense so soon.

"Anna," Her sister began, snapping the girl out of her thoughts. "I need you to tell me the truth. Please. Is there something wrong?"

Anna grasped tightly to her sister's hands, neither one of them noticing the way a small puff of steam seemed to escape their hold.

Blue eyes stared into wintery blue.

Silence and uncertainty hung thickly in the air.

Anna swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat and with hesitation, she said, "Elsa… I think… I think I've been cursed."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anna makes a discovery.

Elsa's eyes widened in surprise, her heart suddenly lurching in her chest.

"Cursed? What—Anna?"

"My hair is changing color again!" Anna interrupted, her expression growing anxious. "Look! See?" She lowered her head and traced the strand of sunset red hair with her finger, surprising the Queen for not having noticed before.

Elsa grabbed hold of Anna's head, scrutinizing her sister's scalp despite the awkward positioning.

"That's… how?" Elsa wondered breathlessly, memories of a year ago flashing into mind.

Before Anna could get a chance to reply, Elsa watched in growing horror as another streak of red pierced through strawberry locks. She jerked her hands away, gaping rather comically as a few more strands of Anna's hair changed before settling back as though the princess had always been born with two-toned coloring.

"Oh Anna!"

"What? What? What happened?!" The younger girl frowned. "Did it change? Did it get worse?!" She hurried to her sister's vanity and nearly tripped over her own feet at the sight. "There's more!" She cried. She grasped at the chunk of hair fearfully and pulled.

She winced.

Catching her sister's reflection in the mirror, Anna whirled around, her fingers still in tangled inside her hair. "Am I going to die?"

It was then Elsa snapped out of her horror and approached her frightened sister with an air of certainty and confidence. She pulled Anna into a tight reassuring hug and said, "Don't be ridiculous Anna. You're not going to die."

"Ho-how do you know?"

"Because I won't let that happen. If you really have been cursed then we already know how to break it, remember?" Elsa gently released the girl, tilting her head up slightly as she ran cold fingers down the streaks of red in Anna's hair. "I love you too much to let another curse take you from me."

Anna gave her sister a watery smile.

"You're right," She sniffed, wiping the unshed tears from the corner of her eyes. She snuggled back into Elsa's hold, breathing in the aura of coolness that would forever be only Elsa's. "Don't mind me," She murmured quietly. "But you're so nice and cool, unlike me. I feel like I'm burning from the inside out."

Elsa frowned. "Burning?"

The princess nodded against the Queen's neck. "Like everything's just so hot all of the sudden." Anna sighed.

She pulled away from her sister's arms and ran slender fingers through the discolored locks of hair, a slight scowl of distaste marred her freckled features. As she pulled her braids loose, Elsa allowed her mind to wander through a number of possibilities and explanations. She eyed the canopy of her bed considerably then the soft blue of her freshly washed summer sheets that had been assembled neatly by one of the maids earlier before. She stared back at Anna, who was now too preoccupied with Elsa's brush to notice the older girl's silent examination.

Red streaks and heat? That sounded like… Elsa curled ma finger around her platinum blonde hair, blue eyes catching the movement. She frowned at the tail end of her braid. She scrutinized it carefully.

It couldn't be possible.

Elsa tore her gaze away from her hair and back to her sister, her brows set in a hard stare.

It shouldn't be possible. No. Not to Anna. Not to her baby sister, but if there was a chance… just an inkling of a possibility… then…

Elsa sighed.

"Anna, I want you to sleep with me tonight."

Anna dropped the brush she was holding and spun around in the stool, her eyes wide; her mouth slightly agape.

"Really?" She suddenly grinned, shock melting into excitement. "Oh! We haven't had a sleep over in ages! Are you really sure about this? I know your still uncomfortable with physical contact—I could sleep on the floor if that'll make you feel better but—"

Elsa pressed a finger over Anna's lips. "Yes Anna, it's ok." She chuckled. "You don't have to sleep on the floor. We'll share the bed. I'm fine with it."

"Are you sure?" She murmured behind the cold finger.

Elsa pressed a sweet kiss against her forehead. A part of her almost reeled back in surprise at how hot Anna's skin felt against her touch, but she refused to let it show. She filed the discovery away for another day then pulled away from Anna with a loving smile.

"Really." With one last glance at Anna's hair, Elsa turned on her heel and made way for the door. "But first, I'll have Gerda send up some dinner. In the meanwhile, you need to freshen up."

Anna wrinkled her nose in offense. "Is that your way of saying I smell?"

Elsa paused by the door. She gave her sister a once over then smiled apologetically. She didn't start giggling until she was halfway down the hall, hearing Anna's exasperated calls echoing behind her.

 

Anna sat in front of her vanity mirror, scrutinizing every strand of hair perched on her head. With a defeated huff, she grabbed a brush and ran it through sunset red locks. She frowned slightly as the bristles stroked each individual strand, leaving them silky and soft beneath her touch. The red gleamed beautifully under the sun's light in a mixture of colors the princess was certain was only attributed to it being magical rather than natural. Perhaps if she had attained her hair in a different way, Anna would have admired the beauty, but seeing as she still wasn't sure if this curse would kill her not, Anna felt she couldn't quite bring herself to love the shade of crimson her hair had turned into.

Olaf had said it was as beautiful as fire, but nicer because it didn't burn when he touched it, or melted his body in close proximity. Kristoff had agreed at the time with awkward hesitation and all, but Anna wasn't buying it—didn't plan on accepting it, really. Even if it was permanent.

With her whole head now covered in the shade of crimson, the fear that had clouded the sisters had finally been able to dissipate. Anna was still alive despite being entirely red headed. She hadn't been doomed into an eternity as an icicle—not that she truly believed she would be again—nor had she spontaneously combusted into ash and flame, despite how unbearably hot she became from time to time.

Instead, she was contemplating whether or not being a red head suited her freckled complexion. Begrudgingly, she supposed it did. In a way.

With a quick shake of her head to disperse the unnecessary contemplations, Anna set aside the brush and began to roll her red hair into an elegant hairstyle worthy of a princess. She hummed a random tune as she expertly manipulated the sleek locks of hair into a sophisticated, tightly twirled bun. Well, it wasn't quite worthy of a princess, but Anna didn't want to deal with complicated hairstyles for a lighthearted event such as this. After all, today might have been a ball as any, but it was mostly a party for all those who dared to remember what had happened on this very day.

Tonight marked the one year anniversary since Elsa's coronation, but not only that, it marked the beginning of a new life for them both. And despite the memory of Han's treachery lingering in the back of her mind, Anna felt that nothing could ruin tonight's ball. Not even the uncertainty that came with not knowing the consequences of her hair change.

"Tonight is going to be a blast." Anna grinned, dabbing a little perfume against her neck. "I wonder if Kristoff will actually wear that suit we sent him." She snickered then laughed a little harder when a prim and proper Kristoff flashed into her mind. "I hope he does, that way I'll never let him live it down."

She jumped from the stool in a flurry of excited energy, her emerald dress shimmering in the light. She spun around the room in a twirl of laughter and childlike joy, the anticipation of the night running through her blood like an overdose of sugar. After another series of twirls, one of which nearly had her flat on the floor thanks to the fabric of her dress entangling around her legs, did Anna dizzily throw herself against her bed, blue eyes fixated on the new royal purple canopy curtain. She allowed her thoughts to drift back to three weeks ago, when she had woken from her nap and found the old curtain on fire right above her.

What was I dreaming about then? She wondered, eyes glazing.

A nightmare. Her mind whispered. But about what, she couldn't recall.

She frowned.

She absently reached out to the canopy curtain, her field of vision blurring with memories, her mind now aimless, when a muscle in her finger twitched in reflex. Something sparked to life against the purple canopy.

Anna snapped out of her daze and stared hard at the curtains, almost daring it to move or flicker in the same way her last set had done. She felt silly for doing so, but she was certain she had just seen something. And just when the thought crossed her mind, that perhaps it had been a trick of the mind, she heard the soft crackle of something burning. In seconds, the small spark of light she had barely caught a glimpse of ate through the fabric of the canopy curtains.

With a horrified gasp, Anna scrambled away from the bed, confused panic already coursing through her veins.

"Oh no! Not again!" She cried.

She glanced around the room for something to smother the flames, but in the urgency of searching, her brain couldn't come up with anything suitable.

"I need help. I need Elsa!" She ran toward the door and struggled to grasp hold of the knob. "Don't burn anything else!" She yelled at the flame, feeling foolish for doing so. Her fright turned into astonishment when, as though the small ball of flame had heard her words, did it stop eating through the drapes and with a pop of smoke, blew out as though blown by an imaginary wind. Anna stopped her scramble then, stunned silent by what she had seen.

But the adrenaline from her panic had yet to diminish. Anna ran out of the room in search for her sister, the only person she figured would understand more than anyone what she had just seen.

"Elsa! Elsaaaahh!" She stepped on her dress and tumbled to the ground in an ungraceful pile of freckled limbs and emerald fabric. Her hands scraped harshly against the carpet, and through her eyelashes, saw the telltale signs of a spark flash between her hands and the floor. With a whoosh, a new fire had started just beneath her hands. She yanked her hands away, startled by the sight, and cried out again when the flames began to grow.

"Stop!" She demanded, cradling her hands close.

Her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when the small bouts of fire blew out once more, leaving nothing left but a black patch of burnt carpet fibers in the middle of the hall.

Shaky hands reached for the patch. She hesitantly poked the crispy fibers, flinched at its warmth, but felt silly for doing so.

"How did this…?" She murmured, voice trailing off.

Anna bit her lower lip.

She definitely needed to tell Elsa about this discovery.

But after the ball. She thought, climbing back to her feet. She dusted off the lint that had managed to cling onto the black velvet of her corset and dried the sweat on her palms against the emerald shimmer of her dress. She tried to summon on the excited joy she had felt for the party earlier, but came up with barely a bubble.

With a deep exhale, Anna held her chin high and journeyed to the ballroom as though she hadn't just stopped the castle from burning with her words alone.

 

Anna wasn't having a good of a time as she would have liked. The party was in full swing and despite the hilarious image of Kristoff in a suit, his hair slick back with gel, or the cute sight of Olaf wandering the ballroom in a tuxedo's jacket, Anna found that a part of her was highly distracted. Yet, she forced out a front for the sake of her sister and friends.

While Elsa stood in front of the throne, overseeing the ball as she always did in occasions like this, Anna mingled with the guests. With a joke here and there; a dance or two; a moment of accidental tripping—to which Elsa saw and giggled into her hands much to Anna's embarrassment—Princess Anna was, without the others realizing it, trying to distract her thoughts.

A thousand and one things ran through her mind during the duration of the night.

She had started a fire with her hands. Fire! With her hands!

Could she manipulate magic?

Was that why her hair turned red?

And if that was the case, how? Why now?

Was she cursed? Or was she like Elsa, born with the power of an element and it was only until now that her powers manifested?

Anna was torn between freaking out and having a rather embarrassing spaz attack right in the middle of the ballroom or, more inappropriately, squeal in utter glee. Because not only did she have magic but she could finally prove to Elsa that she understood! That Anna could finally, finally, tell her sister that she knew what it was like to have magic, and create such beautiful things with said magic, and be called—

A sorceress.

A monster.

To be feared in silence.

To be ridiculed behind your back.

Anna stopped munching on a chocolate truffle, hearing the voices of the commoners slink back into her mind on that faithful night one year ago. That's what they called Elsa then, wasn't it? A monster. They thought she was evil; a witch doomed to curse the land in an eternal winter.

The Princess of Arendelle rolled her eyes at the thought. She pushed away the memory and reached for another chocolate truffle.

If she truly did have magic, Anna felt that she of all people could control it. After all, if Elsa could, why not she?

"Jeez, what did that truffle do to you?"

"Kristoff!" Anna gasped, nearly inhaling the sweet. She hastily dropped the handful of chocolates she'd been coveting and swallowed the rest in a gulp, much to the blond's amusement. She wiped the smear of chocolate from the corner of her lips, but winced at the terrible display of manners.

Kristoff laughed in good humor. He handed the embarrassed princess a napkin from the table.

"Relax Anna, I'm not going to judge you."

"I know, I know. It's just…" She trailed off, eyeing the guests as a silent hint.

Kristoff smirked, amused. "Yeah, I get it. Princess etiquette and all that. Give Queen Elsa my compliments, but this place is still too stuffy for my taste."

"You're leaving?" She frowned.

The blond nodded. "I left Sven by the gates. They wouldn't let me bring him in even though he was the one looking forward to the party more than me." They both chuckled. "But, I didn't want to leave without a dance from my best friend."

Anna smiled, touched by the offer. "I hope your feet are prepared for the pain."

"Depends. How heavy do you think Elsa is?"

"Hey!" She laughed, trying to swat him on the arm. "I thought I was your best friend!"

"I kid, I kid," He snickered, dodging the swat. He bent at the waist, doing his best impersonation of a gentlemen and held out his hand to Anna. "My lady, my I have the honor of this dance?"

Anna giggled in amusement. "You may my good sir," She smiled, laying a hand against his.

The moment her fingers touched his, a swearing heat flashed between their flesh. Kristoff jerked his hand away, a hissing a curse between his teeth. Anna snapped her hand back, her fingers clenched tightly into a fist.

"I'm sorry Kristoff, are you ok?"

"I—yeah." He admitted, shaking the remnants of pain away from his hand. "What was that, static? Jeez, that hurt worse than when I rub my socks on the carpet and poke at Sven."

"Uh, you know what Kristoff? I think I'm going to go. We'll save that dance for another day."

Before Kristoff could get a chance to reply, Anna had already turned on her heel and hurried across the ball to Elsa's throne in a flash. She wrought her fingers together anxiously, still feeling the ghost of heat that had shot from her fingers and into Kristoff. She felt horrible for stinging him, even if it was unintentional, and felt an alien wave of worry pool into the pit of her stomach.

If she really did have powers like Elsa, how did she plan on controlling it?

"Elsa," Anna started the moment she reached the Queen.

"Anna!" Elsa smiled. "I saw you speaking with Kristoff earlier." The mention of the blond made Anna wince harshly, much to Elsa's surprise. She stole a quick glance into the ballroom, unable to detect the blond where she had last seen him. She furrowed her brows in concern. "Is… there something wrong between you two?" Again. Her mind unhelpfully supplied.

"I need to tell you something, but it has to be in private."

"Alright. The party is almost over—"

"No!" Anna interjected, grabbing onto Elsa's hand to stop her. She caught the small wave of steam escape from between their fingers and felt alarmed all over again. "It can't wait Elsa! This is important! It's about—"

"Anna!"

Both young women turned at the call, Anna surprised and disturbed, to see Kristoff bounding their way.

"Hold on just a second here! What the heck was that?!"

"Kristoff—" Anna groaned, releasing Elsa's hand.

"Is there something wrong?" Elsa interrupted, stepping in between the two of them.

"That's what I'd like to know!" The blond huffed, crossing his arms. "Look, if this has anything to do with what happened to us then I'm sorry. I'm sorry it didn't work out like the way you wanted it too—"

"Kristoff—"

"—No Anna, let me finish—you were the one who said we could still be friends. If me asking you to dance made you comfortable then I'm sorry, but you could have just said no. You don't have to make up excuses." Kristoff said with a frown. "It'll save everyone's time."

"It's not you it's me!" Anna cried, forgetting the volume of her voice.

The music suddenly halted and all eyes were on the trio; confusion, concern and curiosity present on everyone's face. Anna threw up her hands in defeat, suddenly tired with the events of the day.

Olaf, sensing the tension between the trio, hurried over to the front and wagged his twiggy arms in the air.

"Alright, shows over people! Move along, move along." He called, ushering the guests out of the ball. "The party is over! It was fun but now it's done! I hope you had a great time because I know I did. I especially liked the part where…" Olaf's voice drifted to silence as he led the large crowd away from the ballroom.

Soon enough, it was just the three of them left in the spacious privacy of a dirty ballroom.

Anna threw herself against the throne, thankful for the eternal snowman's help.

"Alright, we're alone. You wanna start explaining what the heck is going on with you?"

"Kristoff." Elsa started sharply, blue eyes harsh.

Kristoff slumped in defeat, a heavy sigh escaping his lips. "Alright, look, I'm sorry. I was a little strong there but honestly Anna, what's going on with you?"

"You want to know what's wrong?" Anna perched her chin against the palm of her left hand, looking every bit like a bored, dignified noble perched on Elsa's throne. "I'll show you." With a careless wave of her right hand, a wave of fire suddenly erupted from the marvel flooring beside the throne.

Elsa and Kristoff jerked back, startled by the onslaught of fire and heat. The young red head smiled sheepishly. She waved her hand again and watched, just as fascinated as the others, as the flames died away. Nothing was left but a small smudge of soot where the fire had once burned.

Kristoff gawked. "You can—"

"—make fire…" Elsa breathed, just as stunned.

"Yup." Anna replied, popping the "p". "And now that you know, I think it's really important that you teach me how to control it, Elsa, because if my fire is anything like your ice when you're emotional, then it's going to be a problem. I really don't want to worry about burning everyone I touch."

Elsa blinked.

"Wait, wait wait, wait!" Kristoff frowned. "Anna, you have fire powers. Fire. Powers!"

"Oh really? I haven't noticed." She deadpanned.

"And you're just… fine with that?" He gaped.

"I'm not 'fine' with it." She huffed, rising from the throne. "But it's not like I have much of a choice!" She started to pace in front of them, her mind wandering off. "I must have been born with it like Elsa, only… unlike Elsa, my powers really didn't manifest until now. Maybe it had something to do with what happened last year and me turning into a giant ice statue? But—anyway—it doesn't matter how it started because I have it now and I really, really need to control it so Elsa please help me!" She said breathlessly, grabbing her sister's hands to further her point.

"Alright. Ok. Control, yes, of course. I'll help you Anna." Elsa squeezed her hands in promise. "But my magic might work differently than yours—"

"It doesn't matter." Anna pushed, feeling hopeful again. "It's still something!"

Kristoff rubbed a hand against his face in exasperation. "I can't believe you two are ok with this. Am I the only one who thinks this is crazy? Unnatural?"

Anna and Elsa gave the blond a deadpanned expression. He quickly threw up his hands in defeat. "I didn't mean it like that! You're not unnatural Elsa, it's just that Anna is the normal one—"

"Oh?" The Snow Queen raised a slender brow, silently daring him to continue.

"I mean—ugh! You know what I mean!" He admitted in frustration.

Elsa gave him a sympathetic smile. "I know Kristoff and I understand your concerns, but Anna is right. It would appear that magic does flow within our veins." She turned to Anna and said, "Tomorrow I'll teach you what I know. For tonight, we should all get some rest."

"Good plan." Kristoff sighed in relief. "Good night ladies. Sleep tight." He turned on his heel and left them be.


	3. Chapter 3

Sleep had evaded Anna that night, not because she worried about her new found power and the consequences it would bring if her control was not found, but because she finally had magic of her own!

She had never really envied her sister's control of magic. Anna's memories of their time spent playing with Elsa's magic was obscure at best. Despite knowing what she knew now, her memories of their childhood still depicted them playing outside in the snow, not building a winter wonderland in the ballroom as Elsa claimed they had done so many times before. But knowing the truth behind Elsa's abilities, finally getting the opportunity to experience it first hand, she could understand, somewhat, of how much uncertainty and pain Elsa must have felt back then.

To be the only one with such power…

But not anymore!

Elsa wouldn't be alone this time because now Anna had magic of her own! And she would be damned if she let her powers get the best of her.

"I should start practicing now." Anna grinned. "That way, I can get a head start on my control and Elsa won't have to worry about me!"

She threw off the silk covers and climbed out of bed. Grabbing a ribbon to keep her hair away from her face, she hurried down the hall toward the empty ballroom.

She stood in the moonlit darkness, chest heaving from the run; her body warm in a way that had nothing to do with her impromptu trek. She waited until her breath was steady then slowly cupped her hands together. She felt the heat pool into her palms; felt the way her blood lit with fire in her veins and just when the heat grew intense and alarm was about to set in, a small flicker of flame burst to life above Anna's palms.

She smiled wide, pleased with herself.

Willing for the flame to extinguish was harder than pulling it forth. It required concentration that Anna's excited mind could not provide her. In the end, her determination won out and the small flame vanished in a puff of smoke.

Anna squealed in delight.

She glanced around the ballroom, noting its vast emptiness save for a few draperies over the windows. The maids had cleaned out the mess from the party it seemed, which meant that Anna could do whatever she pleased.

With a delighted smile, the Princess of Arendelle threw out her arms and summoned forth the fire flowing deep within her body.

She spent the rest of the night dancing amongst the flames.

 

As dawn rolled out on a new day, Anna hastily ran out of the ballroom with arms wrapped around her bare chest, her hair flying erratically behind her.

She'd gotten too carried away it seemed, and in a moment of recklessness—stupidity, actually—she had set her silk night gown on fire. She had put it out in time, of course, but not until the fire had eaten away most of her cover. Now, with the maids' early risers, Anna hurried up the stairs, praying she'd make it to the privacy of her room without incident.

But Anna wasn't so lucky.

She turned a corner and ran bodily into another. The force of their collision knocked them over, but the panic of being caught naked pushed Anna back on her feet before she could register who it was she had rudely ran into.

"I'm so sorry, but I've got to go!" She gasped.

She made it past the fallen body until a cold hand shot up from the ground and jerked her back.

"Anna!" Elsa called, a little breathless. "Why are you naked? What happened to your clothes?"

"Oh, uh," The girl blushed, feeling embarrassed under her sister's gaze. "I—I accidentally burned my night gown." She muttered, avoiding Elsa's eyes.

Elsa's frown went from concern to disbelief. "You did what?"

Before Anna could elaborate, another voice came from just behind the red head. With a horrified gasp, the Snow Queen grabbed Anna's arm and pushed her into a nearby supply closet. She slammed the door behind them, froze the handle as well as the lock and pressed a pale ear against the door.

The supply closet was not spacious. It was cramped with mops, brooms, buckets and rags. Anna was uncomfortably pressed against a bucket, which poked the small of her back almost painfully, while Elsa's back was pressed firmly against her front. She flushed red from head to toe; embarrassed with her nudity and terribly uncomfortable that her sister—her absolutely beautiful, flawless sister—was pressed so close to her. They hadn't been this close in proximity since they were children and even then, Anna could barely remember their shared baths before Elsa's retreat into the safety of her bedroom. Being so close to her now, when they were adults—and her naked—made Anna feel terribly self-conscious.

Elsa kept her ear pressed firmly against the door. She heard the muffled sounds of voices walk by the door and waited a good five minutes before she unfroze the knob and poked her head out into the hall. Seeing no one else in sight, Elsa stepped out of the closet, her cheeks tinged pink now that she was fully aware of Anna's blatant nudity.

Anna stumbled out of the closet, thankful for the space. She used her long hair to shield her breasts and her hands to hide away the most intimate part of herself. She pouted in slight annoyance, the lack of sleep now fraying at her nerves.

"Elsa, can't you just make me a dress with your magic?"

"I don't think it'd work for you, Anna." Elsa smiled feebly. "Come, let's get you to your room before anyone else sees you."

 

"So what happened, exactly?" Elsa asked the moment Anna was comfortably dressed.

The sisters were on their way toward the dining hall after Gerda announced their breakfast ready. Anna rubbed at her tired eyes, feeling the sting grow more persistent with every step she took.

"I wanted to get a head start on controlling my powers so I spent the whole night playing with fire."

"The castle is still intact so your control isn't entirely horrible." Elsa mused.

"Hey!" Anna pouted, slightly offended. "The only thing I burnt off was my night gown!"

"How did that happen?" Elsa queried as they began to descent the steps.

Anna's expression turned sheepish. "I wanted to see if I could make a dress out of fire." She suddenly perked up. "Turns out I can! Only, it… burns everything else in the process." She grumbled. "Which is why my night gown turned to ash and left me naked."

Elsa struggled for the appropriate reaction. Her first instinct was to chide her sister for practicing her powers in such closed quarters. Creating a winter wonderland in the ballroom wasn't quite as dangerous as turning the room into a raging inferno, but instead of voicing her true feelings, what came out was a sympathetic smile. A part of her hoped that having her night gown get burned off would be enough to remind Anna to be careful with fire.

But Anna, her dear precious Anna, who had been busy pouting over the embarrassing memory, was not one to stay down for long and any possible lesson she could have learned from the ordeal flew right over the girl's red head.

"But I did figure out a lot of interesting things about my powers. I'll have to show you later." She paused, frowning. "Or whenever you're available."

"I've made arrangements with my schedule today." Elsa informed her the moment they reached the dining hall. She waited until they found their usual seats beside each other before she continued. "Today, I'm going to help you learn how to control your magic."

"Really?" the red head beamed.

"Really." Elsa giggled.

"That's great! Because I really don't want to keep burning my clothes off." She flushed, embarrassed all over again.

Elsa merely smiled in amusement.

 

In truth, Elsa wasn't sure how she was going to help Anna with her magic.

She had learned a lot in the past year about control over her own powers. She learned to breathe; to think things through and not let her emotions take over. Her source of power came from her feelings, which now that she thought about it, was rather ironic considering ice and snow were not elements typically associated with passionate feelings. But if powers were ruled by one's emotions then Elsa knew Anna's control would be something hard to learn.

Anna was as emotional and passionate as anyone could be, having the power to manipulate fire—an element just as passionate—was going to be a challenge.

And so, Elsa spent the majority of breakfast mulling over ways to help her sister. She only snapped out of her train of thought when one of the maids came to clear her plate, having eaten her breakfast on auto pilot.

"So," Anna started once the maid had left. "What's my first lesson?"

Elsa rose from her chair. "Breathing." She said.

Anna frowned. "Breathing?"

The Queen smiled at the girl's disappointed tone. "Yes, breathing." She led Anna out of the dining room and into the hall. "If your powers are like mine then your emotions will rule your fire. You burned Kristoff."

"That was an accident." Anna frowned.

"Why?" Elsa queried. She led Anna into the empty ballroom, their designated training zone for now.

"I… don't know." The red head confessed.

"What were you feeling at the time?" Elsa turned to her, wintery blue eyes curious.

Anna shrugged. "Happy. I was having a good time. Kristoff offered me a dance, but when I accepted, I burnt him."

"And the canopy curtain?"

"I had a nightmare, I think, the first time." Anna said, twirling the end of her braided hair around her finger. A flicker of light sparked between her fingers, but it vanished before Elsa cold properly inspect it. Anna remained oblivious. "And the second time I was just thinking."

Elsa frowned. "Wait, what? What second time?"

"I set the canopy on fire a second time."

"Anna!"

"But it's ok! Because I blew it out before I could ruin the new curtains again!"

"Anna!" Elsa admonished. "You should have told me!"

"I did! Just now!" Anna huffed then turned sheepish. "Sorry."

"Anna," Her sister sighed in exasperation. She shook her head then gestured to the center of the room. "You said you wanted to show me something?"

Anna's expression split into a grin.

She hurried to the center of the ballroom, sparing enough space for Elsa to observe the flames and not get burned. The Princess of Arendelle closed her eyes.

She focused on the warmth that burned within her core and visualized all the cool little tricks she had stumbled across last night. She breathed in then out. In then out. In. Out.

Elsa watched her sister, pleased that she had already begun the breathing techniques when Anna's eyes flew open, her blue orbs flashing golden yellow. Elsa was taken aback at the sight, but the burst of fire sprouting from the palms of Anna's hands had her words lost in a sea of awe. She brought the small pillars together and, with a bit of concentration, morphed the flames into a flaming heart.

"Isn't it awesome?" She gushed, passing the flaming heart between her hands. "I can manipulate my flames into any shape I want. I even managed to make a dragon last night but that took a lot of concentration and power. And in the end, I wasn't able to hold it for long without almost passing out."

Elsa worried her lower lip, watching her sister manipulate the flames to a variety of shapes before extinguishing it.

"I also learned that fire doesn't quite burn me like it should." Anna continued, oblivious to her sister's discomfort. "When my night gown burned off, my skin was completely untouched. I also figured out that if I let it go, the heat I've been feeling won't—Elsa, are you ok?"

"Anna…" Elsa hesitated, unsure of how she could possibly address this. "Fire… you can't really build with fire alone. You know that right?"

"I know." Anna frowned. She eyed her sister skeptically for a moment. "But maybe if I try hard enough, I might be able to make something out of it." Her answer made Elsa's concern worsen, much to Anna's confusion. "I know what you're thinking: fire is dangerous if it's not under control, but Elsa don't you see? With your help, I can control it! I know I can! I believe in it." She smiled. "So you shouldn't be so concerned."

Elsa didn't look convinced, but that didn't deter Anna. She'd prove she was right soon enough.

"So… breathing techniques?"

Elsa sighed, deciding to drop the subject for now. "Yes. Breathing techniques. Let me show you what I mean."

 

The first week of Anna's private magic lessons had been on learning how to breathe. Elsa spent the first two days teaching her how to properly calm an erratic heart through the power of breathing. The next four, Anna spent on just that—breathing.

It was boring.

It was annoying, but having Elsa all to herself four hours a day kept Anna from complaining… much.

Besides, Anna realized the lessons weren't going to a complete waste. Learning the breathing techniques was like letting air filter through a furnace. It kept the heat that sometimes boiled her blood cool and bearable. But it wasn't enough. Not entirely.

On the eighth day of Anna's secret lessons, Elsa took her out to the mountainous path for some tactile practice.

"You sure this is a good idea?" Kristoff asked once the sled stopped at his cabin. "Snow and ice are one thing, but fire? Out here?"

"It's perfect." Elsa replied, climbing out of the sleigh along with Olaf and Anna. "The snow will keep the trees from catching fire and raging out of control."

"And we're far enough away from the town that no one will see what we're doing." Anna added, catching sight of the town just a ways down the mountain.

Why Elsa wanted to keep Anna's powers a secret from the rest of the kingdom was beyond her. If their people had accepted Elsa's abilities, what made her think they wouldn't accept Anna's? It was a thought she had wanted to voice, but refrained from doing so. She shrugged it off as simply paranoia. Of course Elsa wasn't deliberately keeping Anna's powers a secret. She was just reserved about their personal lives. After living in seclusion for so long, neither of the girls were quite comfortable sharing things to others, especially personal matters such as this.

Kristoff eyed the red head skeptically and looked as though he wanted to say something, but one careful expression from Elsa had the blond rethinking his words. Instead, he gave his cabin a glance before turning back to the royal sisters.

"You're not going to practice here are you? I mean, I don't really have a problem with it, but… no offense, I don't want to risk my house burning down."

"Don't worry Kristoff, we're not going to practice here." Anna grinned, pointedly ignoring the slight jab. "We're going a little further up the mountain."

"To the palace!" Olaf exclaimed with glee. "Oh, I hope Marshmallow hasn't been too lonely. I try to visit as much as I can but sometimes I feel like I'm not doing enough."

"I'm sure Marshmallow is ok, Olaf." Elsa chuckled. She grabbed a couple of supplies the girls had brought along and handed Anna her bag.

Kristoff watched the women shrug on their things, his eyes taking in over their ill-suited attire for a trek in the snowy mountains. It shouldn't really have surprised him. Elsa was immune to the cold and Anna, well, he supposed being a walking furnace did have its advantages. Like keeping your body warm in the absence of thick furs or coats. However, it didn't make him feel any better watching them trudge through the snow in summer dresses and snow boots.

"Are you sure you two don't want Sven and I to take you up to the North Mountain?"

"We don't want to trouble you, Kristoff." Elsa replied with a grateful smile. "We know how busy you are right now, especially now that summer has arrived to Arendelle. The towns' people will be needing their Ice Master and Deliverer."

"Besides, we'll be fine!" Anna chimed in, smile bright. "It's just the Ice Palace."

"And everything else in-between." Kristoff frowned.

"Oh! Oh! Like wolves and bears," Olaf added, counting off on his twiggy finger-like branches. "And probably mountain lions. Maybe snow leopards. Do we have snow leopards?"

"Olaf!"

The little snowman gazed up at Anna innocently. "Oh sorry. Was I making it worse?"

"Regardless," Anna carried on, ignoring the snowman, Elsa's stifled giggles, Sven's nervous nudging and Kristoff's unimpressed expression. "We can take care of ourselves no matter what comes our way. I'll protect Elsa."

"And I'll protect you." Her sister added, taking the girl by the arm. "But we should hurry. I want to reach the palace before night falls. It'll be easier to see the path if there's light out."

"Alright, but if I don't' see either of you by tomorrow morning, Sven and I are going to start a search party!" Kristoff called, watching the trio ascend further up the mountain path.

With a sigh he scratched the side of his head, hoping they would be alright despite knowing that Elsa and Anna were in good hands.


	4. Chapter 4

Neither of them had ever truly returned to the Ice Palace since its creation. Anna never felt the need to what with her sister back at the Castle and Elsa just never really found the time to in-between queenly duties.

She had forgotten the battle that had taken place; had never really talked about it in detail with Anna when all was done. But Anna never pressed her for answers, and when nightmares of that day crept up on them in the middle of the night, Elsa and Anna always retreated into each others rooms and stayed together until the first light of a new day. But now, being faced with the damage done to the stairway, Elsa remembered and Anna saw.

"Did Hans…?" Anna started, but trailed off.

Elsa shook her head. "I believe that was Marshmallow's doing."

Anna hummed thoughtfully. "He's not going to throw me out again is he?"

"Marshmallow? Nah!" Olaf said, hurrying along the frozen stairway despite the missing patch. "He's changed for the better, trust me Anna!"

They didn't ascent the stairs until Elsa had fixed the missing portion. And even then, Anna found that her hands were not quite cold enough to keep steam from rising every time she held the rail. She kept her hands close to her, preferring to play it safe than worry her sister. She hurried up the remaining steps, nearly slipping into Elsa at the very top.

The Queen steadied her with a hand on her arm, an amused smile gracing her lips despite the sheepish look on Anna's face.

The rest of the Ice Palace wasn't as badly damaged as the chandelier room had been. There were a few cracks here and there, but most of it came from Elsa's inner turmoil rather than the search party that had come for Anna. They found Marshmallow near the upper chambers wearing Elsa's discarded crown from the coronation. Anna broke into a fit of laughter at the sight, but after placating the snow creature that the crown looked perfectly alright atop his head, followed Elsa into the recently fixed Chandelier chamber.

"The ice on these walls are very thick and reinforced by my magic." She started, gesturing to the entirety of the room. "I think it'll withstand the intensity of your flame, Anna."

Anna scrutinized a nearby wall, eying her reflection. "Are you sure?" She frowned, glancing back at Elsa.

"Honestly? I'm not sure." The Queen admitted. "Your fire is… different, Anna. There's a good chance your magic can melt the whole palace."

"So why bring me here?"

"You need the solitude of the palace. There's a certain freedom you can only get from this place and I think that's what you need right now to exercise your control." Elsa suddenly smiled. "It also means you can let go. Should the palace start to melt then I'll just rebuild it again."

Anna gave her a tentative smile.

"I don't want to destroy your hideaway, sis."

Elsa picked up Anna's discarded bag of essentials, that small sweet smile still lingering on her lips. She turned back to the girl, slinking both bags over her shoulder with the ease of having done so before despite never truly living outside the castle before.

"Then you won't." She replied, before turning her back on Anna. "I'll go make us some rooms to sleep. Practice your breathing. Once you get that down, you can start playing around with the temperature." She gave her a playful smirk. "See if you can melt the walls. I'll be right back."

Anna waited until Elsa was out of sight before whirling in her boots. With childlike glee she hadn't felt since the appearance of her powers, she hurried to the center of the room, undid her braids and tied the sunset red locks into a high bun. She didn't worry about it burning since the manifestation of her powers seemed to have made her immune to such things, but she did find it much more appealing when her hair was away from her face during her practices. She found it much easier to cope with the heat when her curtain of hair wasn't brushing along the flesh of her neck.

She rolled the stiffness from her shoulders thanks to the arduous journey before starting on her breathing.

Each exhale she made released a puff of air she hadn't quite noticed until now. She didn't feel the crispy cold she knew the palace emitted. In fact, she felt rather comfortable within the main chamber. It was almost like the bitter cold of the outside balanced the raging heat she felt on the inside.

Another perk she added into her mental check list of why being a pyrokinetic was the best damn thing to ever happen to her.

She closed her eyes in concentration, focusing on every inhale and exhale she took of the fresh, clean air.

She really didn't need to focus on the heat. Her fire came easier the more times she used it, and thanks to all those late night super-secret extra lessons Anna did in the ballroom, she was more than able to summon her flames with barely a flick of her hand.

She still couldn't quite control it in the same way Elsa could with her ice. Small pillars of fire would sometimes turn into roaring funnels of inferno. The small designs she'd like to manipulate with her hands would sometimes spring out of her palms as though they had garnered a life of their own. The small bird she had conjured from flame had been one of the things that flew out of her control more often than not.

It had nearly burned one of the tapestries.

There was another time, a couple of nights ago, when Anna had managed to conjure blue flame.

It'd been so beautiful, so surprising, that Anna failed to notice one of the patrolling guards enter the ballroom. She'd extinguished the flame then, but never forgot the sight of it hovering just above her palms.

She had never seen anything like it.

Now, in the safe solitude of Elsa's Ice Palace, Anna wished to summon upon the blue flames once more. With a quick flick of her wrist, a small flame erupted from her palm, a tamed red-orange ball of fire.

She sighed in disappointment.

"I guess that time was just a fluke, huh?"

"What time was a fluke?" Olaf asked, waddling into the room. He suddenly gasped at the sight of Anna's fire and hurried to the princess with wide bright eyes. "Oh, Anna! Are you practicing with your magic? Can I watch? Can I please? I'll make sure to stay out of your way."

"Sure thing Olaf." She chuckled.

She waited until the small snowman was seated a good distance away from her before cupping the small flame with both hands.

"Are you ready?"

"Ready!" He called cheerily.

Anna willed the fire to grow in size. She pulled apart her hands until the shape of a bird entirely made of flames formed in the space between her palms. She threw the creature into the air and marveled with Olaf as the bird took flight all on its own. It soared around the room, its fiery feathers licking the surface of the ice walls until it shot up toward the ceiling with speed Anna didn't know the bird had.

"Hey! What are you doing?" She frowned, watching the fiery entity fly higher and higher. It looked like it was heading straight toward the ice chandelier. Anna's eyes suddenly widened in horror. "No, wait, stop! Don't—"

She frantically waved her in the hopes of extinguishing the fire creature. It did obey, only, the fire bird went out with a bang. Literally. The ethereal creature suddenly exploded beside the frozen chandelier. A small, but powerful wave smacked into the delicate frozen chain, its heavy weight rocking. A wave of heat from the blast melted through several layers of ice and, like all heavy things did when mixed with gravity, snapped from the ceiling a second time.

With a terrified cry from both occupants in the room, Anna and Olaf jumped out of the line of danger as the ice chandelier came hurdling to the frozen floor. It shattered on impact, sending shards of sharp ice every which way.

Elsa came hurrying into the room, panic written all over her face.

"Anna!" She cried, nearly stumbling over the wreckage to get to her sister. "Anna! Are you hurt? What happened?"

Anna winched, having hit her head at some point during the scramble. She rose to her feet with Elsa's help, but continued to rub the bump at the back of her head.

"I… broke your chandelier… sorry." She confessed after a few minutes of silence.

Elsa's eyes widened. "How?"

"With the coolest fire bird ever!" Olaf replied from somewhere on the other side of the room. "It was beautiful." He sighed, but sobered immediately at Elsa's expression.

Elsa turned back to Anna with an inquisitive frown.

"I made a bird out of fire Elsa." The girl grinned, although it fell short of being genuine due to the disapproval swimming in her sister's eyes. "But, um, I couldn't really control its flight path so, um, it kind of exploded right next to the chandelier—but don't worry because I'm, ok! Olaf's ok. Right Olaf?"

"Right Anna!"

Elsa eyed the fallen chandelier again before glancing back to her sheepish sister.

"Anna," She started, taking hold of the red head's warm hands. She stared into her sister's eyes for a moment, the curiosity, the worry and the embarrassment quite clear within Anna's blue eyes. In Elsa's wintery blue, Anna could see the heavy pools of concern; the disapproval. Fear.

Elsa closed her eyes in resignation. "I don't think you should make anything with your fire, anymore." Anna opened her mouth to protest, but Elsa pressed a finger against her lips. "Please, let me explain. You don't have the right control right now to do that Anna. What just happened is proof of that. If your magic is anything like mine then anything you try to make might come to life. I believe, until you have had more practice, you should just stick with the basics ok?"

Anna exhaled in displeasure, but nodded regardless. The two young women eyed the shattered mess of ice for a moment, neither one of them wanting to think what might have happened if Anna hadn't moved in time.

Sleep evaded the princess that night. Thoughts of flying fire birds and falling chandeliers rattled around in her brain, keeping away the exhaustion she knew her body held. Her thoughts were accompanied by Elsa's words, slipping in and out of her mind like an echo in a cave.

Some words were encouraging—words the Queen had given her during times Anna felt down, like when she and Kristoff had broken up, or when she felt insecure about her position as Princess of Arendelle.

Other words were instructive, most of them involved the times Elsa had taught her how to breathe, had told her that fire was a passionate element, that her emotions might make things worse. But then there were those times when Elsa had told her to stop trying to create; stop manipulating her magic like ice, because their elements weren't the same. They were polar opposites.

Fire couldn't create mass structures the same way Elsa's ice allowed her to create the Ice Palace. It couldn't make snowmen or snow creatures. It couldn't create barriers for protection or impromptu skating rinks for a time of fun. It couldn't preserve life the same way frost could.

Fire was ... different.

It was beautiful, yes, majestic even. Mesmerizing. Free. But it was wild; dangerous.

Destructive.

There was a certain beauty only Elsa could create with her magic. Anna had firsthand witnessed the fantastical display ice and snow could create, but fire…

Her fire was in a league of its very own and it was because of that Anna felt… disappointed… in her sister's reaction.

Her fire wasn't like the rest. Did Elsa not see that?

"Of course she doesn't," The girl whispered in the silent darkness of her icy bedroom. "But I can show her, I just need a chance."

A part of her wondered if the frustration she felt now was the same one Elsa felt when she had to keep her powers hidden from the world. It wasn't like her sister was demanding her to stop the practices all together. Anna understood that Elsa was just worried about the consequences like she always did. The fire bird incident really didn't help the argument either.

"I just need to go somewhere a little less closed in." She whispered.

Anna carefully and quietly tip toed out of the palace, having only one destination in mind. She wandered down the snowy path until she came across the frozen falls where she, Kristoff and Sven had first stumbled into Olaf. It was less extravagantly in the dead of night, the light of day no longer illuminating the clearing the same way it did a year ago. It was still as quiet as she remembered it being, but the perpetual silence did not bother her for she knew the song of fire would soon fill the sky.

In actuality, it was just a dance. The same one she'd done a week back when the urge to demonstrate her capabilities overwhelmed her. She held no grace in her dance, had no reservations binding her down the way the dances at home often did. She simply allowed her limbs to move to the beat of her own heart, hearing the whoosh of her magic, feeling the heat of her flames. She danced beneath the moonlight, spinning; jumping; dipping to a song only her flames could make. She was lost within herself.

For the first time in forever, she felt free.

She had never known she felt that way.

But being lost came with a price.

For every twirl of her night gown, for every wave of her hands, her flames grew in size, became more erratic with the passion of her feelings.

For every step she took, a ripple of fire shot through the snow, melting the layers and cracking the ice beneath. Lassos of flames whipped from her hands, lashing out to the frozen trees. The crystals of ice were starting to melt; the clearing no longer felt as crisp as before.

It wasn't until the princess reached the end of her dance did she finally stop and open her eyes.

She wished she hadn't.

The frozen falls were lit ablaze.

"No! Stop! Stop!" She gaped, eying everything as the flames melted through snow and ate at trees. She tried to silence the flames with her hands, but her panic only fueled the intensity of the inferno. She watched, horrified, as the monstrous strength of her fire destroyed the clearing in a matter of seconds, leaving behind ash and smoke as a reminder of the truth.

Fire is destructive no matter how beautiful.

No matter how special.


	5. Chapter 5

Elsa was worried. She knew something was off when Anna had packed her things that morning without so much as a word or explanation. Elsa hadn't planned on returning to the castle so soon, especially when she knew how much Anna had been looking forward to getting out into the open and practice her fire without restrictions. But it seemed the incident from yesterday had shaken her sister more than she realized.

The smiles she gave to Olaf during their travel down the mountain were as fictitious as the pleasantries foreign monarchs were wont to make. The little snowman had tried to interrogate the princess on her morose behavior, but Anna merely laughed at the snowman's concern and placated their worries with an all too abused lie. ("I'm fine Olaf, really. Don't worry about me. I'm just tired!")

She had done so again when they met up with Kristoff and Sven at the cabin. He had asked how their overnight camping trip went.

"It was fine." Anna had lied with a smile. "I learned a lot." (That much was true, but Anna didn't want to elaborate on exactly what she learned.)

Her reaction had disturbed them, but neither one of them wanted to press the girl any more than they already did.

They travelled down in semi-silence. It would have been entirely silent had it not been for Olaf. He felt that because Anna seemed so unnaturally quiet today, it was his duty to keep up everyone's spirits with cheery conversation and nonsense about what summer was like in Arendelle and the flavors of ice cream he couldn't try because he didn't have a sense of taste. Or a stomach for that matter.

Anna's attention was elsewhere for the duration of the journey, despite Olaf's and Kristoff's best efforts. She was the first to leave the sleigh the moment they reached the gates and the first to disappear within the sanctity of the castle.

Elsa, Olaf, Kristoff and Sven exchanged worried glances.

"Did something happen up in the palace?"

"Nothing I thought would disturb her." The Queen admitted. She exhaled softly.

"You think Anna is upset about breaking the chandelier?" Olaf queried with a troubled frown.

Kristoff raised a curious brow. "Huh? What chandelier?"

"That's a story for another time. Thank you Kristoff." Elsa smiled. "And Sven." She added, scratching the reindeer under his chin.

Elsa turned to follow Anna's footsteps—Olaf already a ways ahead—when Kristoff suddenly grabbed her arm. She flinched from the contact, making a layer of frost coat the ground beneath her feet. Kristoff jerked his hand away, face apologetic.

"Sorry, sorry. I forgot you didn't—anyway, your Majesty—I just…" Kristoff sighed. "I just wanted to ask you to keep me informed. Anna doesn't… tell me much of anything anymore. At least not about herself."

"I understand," Elsa replied gently. "I'll keep you informed, but right now, my sister needs me. I'll send Olaf with news should anything concerning pop up."

"Thank you… Elsa."

She smiled.

 

Elsa found her sister in her bedroom wearing a hole in the ground. Anna wrung her hands in distress, reminding Elsa of the way she used to pace circles in her bedroom days following their parent's death. She stepped into the bedroom on silent feet, shutting the door with a soft click.

Anna stopped pacing at the sound, but didn't turn to acknowledge the Queen's presence.

"I think I'm starting to understand how you felt like all those years."

Elsa's expression softened sympathetically. It quickly changed into alarm when she felt a wave of heat overcome her. It filled the room within seconds and although Elsa wasn't one to be bothered by the extremes of temperatures, she felt the oppressive air begin to fill her lungs. She pushed the heat away by summoning on her magic and heaved a grateful silent breath when the suffocation finally eased from her lungs.

Anna turned to Elsa then, habitually playing with the ends of one of her braids.

"You were right Elsa. I can't create, not with fire. I can't build amazing palaces or create beautiful dresses because fire has no substance." She started pacing again, the pools of blue in her eyes tinged gold.

Elsa had to summon more of her cold to keep her side of the room comfortable.

"I thought maybe I could prove you wrong. I've been practicing and practicing every night, and it's gotten easier to summon on my flame, so I thought maybe my control wasn't as bad as it was in the beginning? But…" She bit her lip.

"You lost control." Elsa finished delicately.

Anna curled the tail of her braid around her index finger. "No. Not really. I just…forgot…about my surroundings." She groaned. "I'm sorry Elsa. I know you took me out to the Ice Palace for my own benefit, but I snuck out that night to practice somewhere more open, but I ended up setting the frozen clearing on fire. I didn't think it was possible. I thought the snow would keep my fire from spreading but you were right, my fire isn't like regular fires. It's different somehow."

"Wait, you what?"

The red head couldn't keep herself from flinching at Elsa's harsh tone. She turned to the Queen, her expression shamefaced as she fretfully twirled the tail-end of her hair between her fingers.

"I set the frozen falls on fire." She paused. "Well I guess technically they're not frozen anymore but—"

"Anna! What did you think you were doing?! What if someone had been there? You could have hurt someone! You could have hurt yourself!"

"It was the middle of the night!" Anna shot back angrily. "Who would think to visit the mountain side that late at night?"

"That's not the point! You could have hurt yourself." Elsa admonished, her tone rising just a little.

"I can't hurt myself. My fire doesn't hurt me!" Anna snapped harshly, her blue eyes now gold.

Elsa felt taken aback at the sight, her concerned anger now swirling into utter surprise. "Your eyes," She breathed, unsure of what else to say.

Anna felt the anger drain from her body faster than she could blink, leaving her muddled and almost disoriented. She gave Elsa an uncertain frown and tentatively asked, "What about my eyes?"

"They changed color."

Now Anna felt terribly lost. She turned to her vanity mirror and gazed into the honey hue of her eyes. She jerked away from her reflection with a gasp, surprised beyond belief. Having her hair change color had been one thing, but her eyes?

What kind of magic was this?

Elsa felt the wall of heat break into her barrier of cold with alarming intensity. She fell back a step in surprise, feeling her back hit the wall. Frost and ice sprouted up the walls upon contact, making pretty little floral and vein like designs along the pink walls of Anna's bedroom. It startled the both of them out of their shock, but none more so than Anna, who watched with wide eyes as the heat she hadn't realized filling the room began to melt Elsa's frost rapidly.

"Elsa!" She cried. "I'm sorry! Am I hurting you? I didn't' realize the room was so hot. Are you melting? You can't melt right? Wait, of course you can't melt. You're not really made out of—"

"Anna! You're making it hotter!"

"Right, right, sorry!"

Anna wiggled the tension and nervous energy out of her limbs. She willed the heat in her core to cool and was relieved when she felt her body temperature drop to normal levels. She heard Elsa's thankful sigh follow soon after and felt even more troubled than before.

Why was it so difficult for her to acknowledge her surroundings? Or to realize the temperature change whenever she entered a room?

"Sorry," She mumbled, embarrassed. "I didn't…realize…"

"So I noticed." Elsa remarked. "It's OK Anna. Believe me, I understand what you're going through."

"More than anyone, huh?" She smiled weakly.

Elsa returned the smile. "Your eyes are blue again." She stated after a while.

Anna's meek demeanor did not change, which bothered Elsa more than she let on. She glanced up at the frost covered wall behind her, partially surprised and troubled that half of her frost had melted in the ten seconds it took for them to notice the suffocating heat. She traced the sweaty frost floral design with her eyes in a moment of distraction when a thought suddenly popped into mind.

It was the same thought she had during their overnight stay in the Ice Palace. Why Anna hadn't followed it through the first time, Elsa would never understand, but she supposed giving it a try a second time might prove to be more beneficial.

"Anna, have you ever thought of practicing with your heat?"

"My what?"

Elsa turned to her with a thoughtful look. "Your heat. Instead of playing with fire, why don't you practice with heat? I asked you to do that yesterday, but instead you decided to make a fire bird."

At Anna's blank stare, the Ice Queen rolled her eyes.

"Anna, you know I don't only control ice and snow. I can make the air colder if I wanted to, just like you can make the air hotter. Instead of summoning on your flame, how about you control the intensity of your heat? Make the temperature hotter with your powers."

A wide infectious smile broke out on the young princess's face. "Elsa you're a genius! Why didn't I think of that? No wait—don't answer that." She added, catching onto the Queen's amused giggles. She wrapped her sister in a warm hug, thanked her for the idea then hurried out of the room to do who only knows what.

Elsa remained in Anna's bedroom, her expression solemn now that her sister was no longer there to watch her. She watched the last of the frost drag lazily down the pink wall-paper of the wall, the image of the ice chandelier crashing down on Anna replaying in her mind—all because of a bird made of flame that Anna couldn't control. She thought back to the ball a few weeks back, how Kristoff had been angry and Anna nervous because of the small spark of fire that had burned the blond's hand. Or the night she burnt off her nightgown during a night session gone wrong.

The breathing exercises weren't helping. If anything, Elsa felt they were making it worse. Teaching her sister how to properly breathe with her diaphragm made Anna's flames stronger in a way. Potent. They were brighter now than when Anna didn't know the techniques. And now, it seemed, Anna needed less movements to start a flicker of flame.

Now her eyes were changing color.

Elsa's eyes never changed when she used her ice. Nor had her hair changed. She'd been born platinum blonde. She'd been born this way.

Anna wasn't.

_Perhaps Father's books have something on the subject._ Elsa thought, rubbing her forehead as an ache started to develop just behind her eyes. She hoped that by having Anna practice with heat, she wouldn't get herself in trouble.

But knowing her sister that seemed impossible as of late.

 

Anna stared hard at a silver goblet. She leveled her eyes a few inches around the cups rim, glaring daggers into the liquid as though it had committed a heinous act of treason.

Olaf stopped mid-stride in the hall, having just caught a glance at the princess in the dining hall. With a curious smile, he strolled into the dining hall and scurried up the chairs to join Anna at the table.

"Whatcha doing?" He asked after a moment of watching her stare daggers at the innocent cup.

Anna spared him a look before her eyes tinged gold again. The liquid in the goblet began to bubble lightly, as though on a light simmer. The Princess of Arendelle pulled away with a pleased smile.

Olaf suddenly gasped in understanding.

"Ooh, I see what you're doing. You're practicing again! Oh, but this is different. You're not using fire, you're using a different kind of fire."

"Technically it's heat." She replied, watching the water gurgle. "Elsa suggested I practice a different aspect of my magic, so I decided to see if I could make water boil. Looks like I can!" She waved a hand over the steam bellowing out of the silver goblet, feeling prouder when the water remained on a light simmer. "I think Elsa thinks learning how to do this would be safer for everyone."

"For everyone? Or for you?"

Anna stared back at the snowman in surprise. He gave her a knowing smile before marveling back at the heated goblet.

"I think your fire is beautiful Anna." He confessed after a while. "I really did enjoy your fire bird even though it blew up and broke the chandelier. But it blew up prettily, by the way."

Anna's good mood turned sour.

Olaf's eyes widened in glee as the simmering water began to pop more erratically.

"Thank you," She managed to say, despite the sour memory. "But I wish it hadn't exploded and nearly got you killed."

"Me? We were more concerned about you." The snowman huffed. "Can I touch it?" Olaf reached out for the goblet the same time Anna did.

"No wait—!" She knocked the goblet over in an act of clumsiness—she had only wanted to move the cup away in fear the water would pop in Olaf's face—and watched in horror as the boiling water splattered all over the snowman's stubby legs. He yelped in surprise and fell over the edge of the table before Anna could blink.

"Olaf!" The princess shrieked, practically scrambling over the table to reach her fallen companion. "Are you hurt?"

He stuck out a twiggy hand in the air and waved it frantically.

"I'm fine! Don't worry about me!" He called, despite having Anna crouched beside him in a flash. "I'm not hurt." He wiggled each of his stubby legs for emphasis in spite of noticing the missing chunks of snow where the water had struck him. "Don't worry, Queen Elsa can fix that."

Anna felt a flash of something pierce through her heart. She drew her hands away from the snowman and rose to her feet with an odd look in her gold tinged eyes.

"Right, yes, of course she can." She tried to chuckle in relief, but her voice came out airy and weak. "I'm sorry Olaf."

Olaf made to reply but stopped himself the moment Anna turned away. She gathered up the silver goblet and the pitcher of water Olaf hadn't noticed was there then turned sharply on her heel. He watched in dumbfounded silence as Princess Anna curtly left the dining hall, a small line of steam trailing her exit.


	6. Chapter 6

Anna wasn't present for dinner that night and her presence was sorely missed. Despite missing her sister, Elsa felt that what Anna needed was sometime alone. It wasn't easy coming to terms with yourself, but if anyone understood more than anything what that was like it was Elsa. So she allowed her sister the reprieve she felt Anna needed and ate dinner in the company of Olaf.

That following morning, Elsa was relieved to see her sister had decided to join her for breakfast instead of hiding away in her bedroom as Elsa was likely to do.

They ate in silence mostly, until breakfast was done and both young women sat awkwardly at the table, waiting for someone daring enough to break the silence. If they had been under different circumstances, Anna would have been the one to break the silence, but because it was Anna that seemed so strangely withdrawn, Elsa felt she had no choice but to pry.

"Anna—" "Elsa—" They both began, much to the others surprise. Elsa chuckled lightly into her hand while Anna's cheeks tinged pink, a little embarrassed but amused as well.

"Yes?" Elsa urged her gently, her smile soft and sweet.

Anna shook her head in response, a small smile framing her lips. "No, you go. You look like you wanted to say something way before I did."

Elsa's long slender fingers gracefully wrapped around the silver goblet as Anna spoke. She swirled the sunshine yellow juice around, letting a delicate layer of frost shimmer across the drink and fog the goblet before taking a much needed sip.

Anna eyed the goblet with an almost predatory stare. The soft blue of her eyes hardened on their own accord, and for a moment, Elsa thought she saw the quickest flash of gold swirl amongst the sea of blue.

"Alright," She began, setting down the goblet. (It was almost physically painful for Anna to tear her gaze away from the cup and back to Elsa.) "Olaf told me what happened between the two of you yesterday."

The red headed princess allowed herself a wince as a flash of guilt speared into her heart.

Elsa's expression softened in understanding. "He's OK, you know. He wanted me to tell you that."

"He said that yesterday too." She said quietly. "But it doesn't mean I still don't feel bad about it."

"It was an accident, Anna."

"An accident waiting to happen." The red head frowned, blue eyes hard again. "You know, I'm trying my best to keep myself from hurting anyone."

It was Elsa's turn to mirror Anna's freckled expression. "I never said you weren't—"

"But you don't accept anything that I do." She interjected. "Every time I tell you that I learned something new from one of my practices you give me this look like what I'm doing is a crime! Like, like you don't approve that I do it." Anna clutched her own silver goblet angrily and gulped down the contents of her orange juice before the heat of her skin could seep into the metal. She slammed the cup against the table, ignoring the small spark of light that flashed between the silver goblet and the white table cloth.

"You asked me for help, Anna," Her sister began, wintery blue eyes glancing between Anna and the cup. "You wanted me to help you keep in control and that's what I set out to do. Hearing that you sneak out every night to practice fire in the ballroom wasn't exactly the most reassuring thing to know."

The air around her grew cold in silent fury, just as the air around Anna seemed to warm up without explanation.

"I don't approve of it." Elsa confessed, much to Anna's surprise. "Your fire is dangerous, Anna. It burnt off your clothes, it destroyed my chandelier and you've nearly set your bed on fire twice." She willed her anger to calm. She didn't want to get into an argument with Anna, not now, not when it was so early in the morning and her sister was obviously facing some unmentioned inner turmoil. But Anna needed to see her point. Fire is dangerous. Ice is dangerous. Their magic as a whole was something not to be trifled with.

She heaved a heavy sigh. "Anna, I'm sorry, I just want you to understand what it means to be… well… like me. Having magic isn't something you could just go off and practice whenever you wanted to. There are consequences."

_Like freezing someone's heart._

The words went unsaid, but Anna knew it was something Elsa wanted to say. She knew there were consequences. Anna already knew there were dangers to her fire, but did her sister have to constantly remind her about her lack of control?

Did Elsa really need to keep bringing up the fact that if she weren't careful, something terrible would happen? That someone could get hurt?

What happened with Olaf was an accident.

What happened with Kristoff had been unintentional.

What happened in the clearing had been unforeseen, but now that Anna knew, she wouldn't allow it to happen again.

Wasn't that enough for Elsa?

"What exactly do you want me to do, Elsa?" Anna asked after a moment of tense silence. "I can't pretend my powers don't exist."

"And I'm not asking you to." Elsa sighed. She reached out for Anna's hand and grimaced at the heat that radiated off the girl's flesh. "I just want you to be careful."

Anna stared her straight in the eyes, her lips pursed in displeasure. She looked as though she wanted to continue the argument but felt resigned to give up in the end. She nodded slowly, squeezing Elsa's hand in turn.

In truth, Elsa would have preferred Anna give up practicing her fire all together, but she knew she couldn't ask that of her sister. She'd be following in the footsteps of their father who, although had Elsa's best interest at heart, didn't approach the matter in the best of ways. Then again, Elsa couldn't fault her parents on their decision. She had been the one to withdraw from Anna all those years ago. She had been the one who chose to stay as a recluse in her own room, only to leave when she was sure her sister was deep in slumber.

Asking Anna to stop practicing, to give up her nightly sessions in the ballroom and pretend as though she were still as mundane as the rest of them, was the equivalent to shutting her in the castle all over again. Only it was worse because Elsa had the freedom to use her magic whereas Anna would not.

With a tentative smile, Elsa excused herself from the table and made way for the study, ready to take on the rest of the day.

Anna hung back in the while, blue eyes trailing after the shimmery train of her sister's dress. She didn't move until she was certain Elsa had vanished beyond the door, and once she had, she scowled into her goblet.

It boiled beneath her golden gaze.

 

Anna found it difficult to keep her feet from burning the grass in the garden. She kept her hands clenched tightly against her sides, but the heat that radiated off her in waves was enough to curl some of the flowers inward. She had been there for a while now, if the trail of brown grass and shriveled flowers were any indication, and despite her attempts, Anna found it almost impossible to keep her inner turmoil from enhancing her powers.

She was angry, that much was obvious. But it was worse than that.

She was angry at Elsa.

She knew her sister was concerned. Understood it even, but still, she felt wronged. She could control it, Elsa just needed to believe in her, but she didn't and that was the problem.

Queen Elsa of Arendelle didn't believe her little sister could control the power of her flames; didn't even want her to continue practicing from what Anna could tell.

But that wasn't right.

That wasn't even fair.

Anna had never told Elsa to stop practicing her magic; had never criticized her for when Elsa had accidentally froze things over. She was sensitive about the topic. She always gave Elsa the benefit of the doubt and even encouraged her to practice her control. She had never doubted her sister. And yet… why was it so hard for Elsa to see that she too was capable of keeping her flames from hurting others?

Perhaps it hadn't been about the others she was worried about. Elsa did tell her to be careful, what if the Queen's worry lay toward Anna's own well-being?

_But that's stupid._ Anna rebuked mentally. _Elsa knows I can take care of myself. I ran through a blizzard for her! Sure, Kristoff and Sven helped me get there but still, I did most of it on my own. She's not worried about me. She's worried about what my powers will do to others._

Elsa had always garnered that fear, even now when the whole kingdom knew of her abilities. She worried about the well-being of others, never her own, and in Anna's situation, the princess truly felt that, as Queen, Elsa was only looking out for her subjects.

But that was the bottom line, wasn't it? The fact that Queen Elsa felt she needed to worry about others. Anna had been the one to convince her to remain as Arendelle's rightful Queen and continue to rule despite her powers. The people of Arendelle didn't care. They loved her. They loved them. And yet… Anna felt as though Elsa didn't trust her and that was a problem.

"If she doesn't trust that I can do this then I'll just have to prove her wrong," Anna muttered, feeling slightly resolved.

She stopped her pacing and stared back at the castle with a determined look in her blue eyes. The shriveling of flowers brought her attention back to the damaged garden. The dead, dry grass that had burned beneath her feet seemed to spread outward as though an invisible flame were passing through. The flowers closest to her from when she stopped pacing had already wrinkled and dried. There were others within her radius, she noticed, that began to wither as though the very air were sucking away its life force. Soon enough, Princess Anna stood surrounded from head to toe by blackened, withered flowers.

If she was going to start proving her sister wrong then she wasn't off to a good start.

With a deep inhale that made her feel as though she were filling her very soul with oxygen, Anna let loose her breath as slowly and calmly as she could. Smoke escaped from between her lips, much to her astonishment, but quickly dissipated before she could truly process what had just happened. Saving the thought aside for another day, the Princess strolled back into the castle with resolve made of steel.

 

Despite their argument that morning, Anna found herself in the company of Elsa for their first training session since the incident at the frozen palace. They met at a new location, one that Anna thought was very strange considering how much her sister wanted to keep their lessons private. They stood out in the private openness of the castle courtyard, surrounded by the four walls of the secure castle, but distant enough that none of their magic should ever reach the stones unless deliberate. The beautifully bright blue sky hung overhead; the lazy heat of an afternoon summer pressed comfortably against their skin.

Olaf watched in childlike fascination from underneath one of the stone archways on Elsa's side, his small storm cloud keeping him cool with a shower of snow. It must have been hot for the poor snowman if a heavy snow fall was needed to keep his body from sweating.

Anna didn't feel the heat as intensely as she had earlier that morning, but she supposed she wouldn't. Not after subconsciously venting out her anger in the garden.

She hoped Elsa wouldn't noticed the damage done to the garden any time soon. (And if she did, Anna hoped she was nowhere near the palace then.)

"I'm happy you decided to join me," Elsa began softly, her wintry blue eyes apologetic. "Even after our…argument from earlier."

"We're sisters, Elsa." Anna shrugged. She gave her a friendly smile. "We'll disagree on a lot of things, but in the end, we're fighting for the same thing."

"And that's why I've decided that it's time we start taking a hands-on approach to your training." Elsa clasped her hands in front of her, looking every bit a beautiful regal Queen with her light blue dress gleaming under the sun's light.

"Like controlling heat?" Anna smiled shyly.

Elsa's expression softened. "We're going to do something a little different than that."

Anna's brows raised in surprise. "You mean-?"

"If I'm going to help you, I need to see how your magic works first hand."

"I thought you didn't want me practicing in the castle." The red head grinned.

Elsa rolled her eyes playfully, but Anna could see the trepidation that hid within those wintery blue eyes. She dropped her playful demeanor and dawned the mask of gravity, surprising the Queen. (It was not usually within Anna's nature to look so solemn faced. Elsa wondered if she had done something to upset her sister so quickly.)

"Are you sure about this? Aren't you worried someone will see?"

Elsa glanced at the stone walls and the archways on the second floor that allowed others to peer into the courtyard. She glanced back to the only exit in the courtyard where Olaf waved frantically back at them, a small dusting of snow gathering at his feet.

The Snow Queen turned back to Anna with an impish smile. The expression caught the princess off guard, but not as much as the walls of ice did. Streaks of ice shot out from Elsa's feet. It raced across the yard and slithered up the walls like icy veins. Anna watched in awe as layers upon layers of ice coated the stones until a thick layer surrounded the entirety of the courtyard.

Olaf clapped excitedly at the display, whistling and hollering for Anna to demonstrate what she was capable of.

Elsa took a step back and unclasped her hands. "Now, no one can watch us."

Anna's expression turned impish. "Are you sure you didn't just want to show off your magic?"

"Don't be silly," she giggled. "Now, start with something small, like the heart you showed me the first time."

The first time Anna had demonstrated her flame, she had needed both hands to produce her fire. Now, two weeks since the discovery, the Princess of Arendelle held out only one hand. With a snap of her fingers, a small flame flickered to life from the friction and Elsa watched as her sister molded the light into a gleaming, flickering heart. They heard Olaf awe loudly from the frozen archway (the only part of the courtyard that wasn't blocked off by four inches of solid ice.)

"Do the fire bird Anna!" He called out excitedly.

Elsa's serene expression morphed into apprehension. A part of Anna bristled at the doubt and before Elsa could protest the idea, she cupped her hands together and mentally manipulated the flames into the small familiar shape of an ethereal flaming bird.

She could do this. She could control it. She wasn't going to let her bird fly out of control. And should it explode, she would make sure it was up in the sky and away from Elsa.

With a quiet breath, Anna allowed the small bird to take flight and watched with growing relief as the tiny creature flew against the stark blue sky with majestic beauty. Olaf ooh'd and awe'd in utter fascination. Elsa, on the other hand, watched the creature with foreboding.

"Stop it Anna." She said after a few moments of anxious silence.

Anna felt the frown settle on her freckled face. "But—"

"I told you, you can't create things with fire."

"You asked me to create a heart Elsa! What do you call that?"

"A demonstration." The Queen retorted. "I wanted to see how you summon on your powers. A small heart wasn't—"

"Quite as dangerous right?" The red head interjected, golden eyes sharp. The flaming bird stopped its aimless flight and settled just behind the girl's shoulder, watching the scene unfold with yellow flaming eyes.

Elsa felt taken aback at the sight, but her sister's words stole most of the shock away.

"Anna—"

"Why can't you believe that I can do this?" Anna continued. The anger and hurt from earlier pooled into her heart.

The flaming bird beside her seemed to flicker erratically for a moment, its shape momentarily scrambled. Elsa took another unconscious step back at the sight.

It pained Anna to see it.

"You don't trust me," She stated quietly, feeling the words roll heavily on her tongue.

"You don't understand Anna—" Elsa cut herself off with a regretful frown. "Maybe…maybe Kristoff is right. We shouldn't be doing these lessons."

Anna felt the air escape her lungs. The flaming ethereal creature beside her burst in a flash of blue before extinguishing, leaving the princess standing stiffly. She clenched her firsts, feeling a new wave of anger flow through her blood like molten lava.

"Lessons? What lessons?" She spat, her body shaking in rage. "You barely taught me anything Elsa!"

"Fire and ice are different elements," The Queen re-stated, frowning. "I should have taken that into consideration. Fire is too wild. Even if I could help you, it would still burn everything."

"Like ice doesn't freeze anything." Anna scoffed.

"At least ice thaws!" Elsa snapped. "At least I can try to reverse my damage, but fire doesn't let you do that Anna! Fire destroys everything it touches. You can't fix the damages."

Anna looked away angrily, unable to bear the thought of looking at Elsa's face. "I already told you, fire can't hurt me."

"Maybe not physically," Elsa sighed, resigned.

Neither of them had noticed the light flurry of snow that had begun to fall from the once blue sky.

Elsa wrapped her arms protectively around herself, turning away from her angry little sister. "I'm sorry Anna. I know I promised to help, but after giving it some thought I think its best we stop practicing."

"Elsa!" Anna gaped, astounded. It was their morning argument all over again. "You said you wouldn't ask me to stop!"

"And I'm not," Elsa replied, stopping in her tracks. She glanced over her shoulder. "I can't make you stop, but I can stop our lessons. If you want to practice then… fine… but you will not practice in the ballroom." She gestured to the courtyard around them. "You will practice out here. Or the Ice Palace, if you prefer, but not in the ballroom. Not inside." She hesitated for a moment, feeling guilty for breaking her promise and more so for the words that would slip from her lips. "And you will do it alone."

No Olaf – because it was far too dangerous for a snowman.

No Kristoff – because he would likely get burned.

No maids, no knights, none of the palace workers were allowed to watch because as far as Anna knew, her pyrokinetic powers were still a secret.

And no Elsa, because she feared Anna's flames. Feared what it could possibly do to either of them, or anyone.

Anna struggled internally with her emotions. The overwhelming sense of betrayal and heartbreak weighed heavily in her chest, but the rage that burned within her like acid made the hurricane all that much worse. She released a breath between clenched teeth and managed to bite out a nearly strangled "Fine" from between her lips. She turned away from Elsa entirely, no longer happy to be within the Queen's frosty presence.

"What about my privacy?" She inquired as an afterthought, her golden eyes boring holes into the wall of ice in front of her. Literally, it seemed.

"The ice walls are thick." Elsa pointed out quietly. "If they start to melt, I'll fix it, but they should buy you some privacy."

Anna refrained from commenting, but the growing puddle around her feet was enough to tell Elsa she was less than pleased. But that was putting it mildly in Elsa's opinion.

Elsa and Olaf left Anna to vent quietly in the courtyard, no more words were spoken, no second glances spared.

Once the princess knew she was left alone in the solitude of a frozen courtyard—when she was sure she could no longer contain the torrent of emotions wreaking havoc within her heart—she unleashed a flood of fire that surged across the square in a dazzling flash of red-orange and blue. Three rings of erratic flames rippled across the yard.

The first set she unleashed shown a brilliant red-orange and it melted away the small dusting of snow that had managed to gather during their argument.

The second ring of fire was lighter in shade and less fierce, but just as fast as the first ring. It followed the first and slammed into the walls of ice, sinking through the first layer.

The third ring of fire that rippled from Anna was blue in color. It was the very same blue she had managed to conjure all those weeks ago, and just like then, it was still as dazzling and beautiful as when she had first created it. But she couldn't marvel at its beauty this time for she barely noticed the flickering rings or their coloration. The blue flames surged across the square in speed unseen in fire. It crashed into the ice walls and seemed, for a moment, to grow in size upon contact but quickly died away in the growing puddle.

She heard the walls crack in various places, but refrained from moving. She stayed in the middle of the courtyard, listening to the eerie cracks from the walls around her, her mind lost in thought.

Why did Elsa and Kristoff not believe in her the way she did for them?

What was it about her that they just didn't trust?

Was it because it was her? The youngest of the Arendelle sisters? The klutzy one? The one who did not succeed the throne because she wasn't Elsa?

She didn't think she would ever know.


	7. Chapter 7

The rift between the Arendelle sisters was palpable throughout the kingdom. It was obvious to those that visited the Queen during her open hours that she was troubled with personal affairs. The regal air that accompanied the Queen whenever she made any public appearances was not present. She seemed distracted, lost even, as though her mind was where ever her sister stood.

The same could be said for Anna. There was a sense of anger beneath Anna's surface that troubled the town's people. They knew Princess Anna to be sweet and cheery. She was always smiling despite any personal turmoil, but it would seem that whatever had occurred between the Queen and the Princess had been almost as nasty as the Princess's public break up.

Kristoff and Sven had been concerned on the times they visited the palace, but neither of the sisters were willing to go into detail about it. It was only when Kristoff found Olaf did the blond finally understand the stormy silence between the young women.

In the end, much to Anna's chagrin, Kristoff sided with Elsa.

(Sven had sided with Anna, but knowing that proved very little to lighten her mood.)

Olaf didn't like it when the girls fought. In truth, he hated it. He hated seeing them both hurt. He hated the way Elsa would throw herself into her work just to keep the guilt from eating her up inside.

He hated the way the heat of summer would feel like autumn in Elsa's presence or the way the air seemed to melt his snow whenever Anna was around.

(His personal flurry would change depending on which sister he hung out with. With Elsa, Olaf found that his tiny little cloud barely let out a single drop of snow, but with Anna, a small blizzard was needed to keep him barely together. He found that hanging out with Anna during times like this to be nearly impossible. It pained him—it was Anna who needed the company the most.)

He hated the way Anna would sneak off into the courtyard earlier every night just to lose herself in a wave of fire because of how ferocious the burning within her core felt. He had watched, from the safety of the archway, Anna's flames lick the walls of ice in a fitful dance of unexpressed emotion. He'd seen with his own eyes the way her flames would change colors; the way it carved through layers upon layers of Elsa's ice; the way Anna's once beautiful dance felt more like a desperate attempt of release, to let go of the gnawing ache inside of her.

And it seemed to get worse every night, for Olaf realized it took very little effort in Anna's part to release torrents of fire.

(For a moment, Olaf wondered if Elsa knew what was happening; if she kept watch somewhere out of sight just like him. It seemed that every night he followed Anna, the ice her fire had melted through would be hastily repaired again, as though Elsa had only just managed to refill the gaps before Anna's arrival.)

But most of all, he missed them when they were together. Two weeks of eating meals separately, of avoiding each other in the hallways and pretending the other didn't exist when they had no excuse but be in the same room was destroying the sisters inside and out.

This was worse than their years of separation. At least then, Anna didn't have to go through such efforts to avoid her sister.

It needed to stop and it needed to stop now, before things could get any worse and their damaged bond becomes irreversible.

Luckily for Olaf, an opportunity arrived in the most unexpected way.

 

Anna was surprised—and nervous—when one of the castle maids came looking for her in the frozen courtyard. She had just dispersed a flaming serpent seconds before the older woman's arrival. The old woman's hurried expression turned into wary as she eyed the melting, cracked walls around them, and winced just a little as her foot accidentally stepped into a puddle a little too deep for her flats.

The princess barely suppressed a giggle at the sight. She met the maid the rest of the way to save the poor woman anymore trouble.

"Frida, what are you doing here?" She asked. "I mean, not that you're not allowed her or anything, I'm just surprised you found me."

Frida had been one of their older maids. She was part of the group of servants Anna remembered seeing as a little girl, but her interactions with the gentle woman had always been limited, even back then. When the King had closed off the castle gates, Frida had been one of the unfortunate few who had been released from her services.

She had returned to the castle of her own will and expressed great joy when Elsa opened the Castle gates and rehired her services. Still, Frida was not a woman Anna ever saw. Seeing her now made the princess rather suspicious.

"My apologies, princess, for disturbing you." The old maid bowed politely. "But the Queen has requested your immediate presence in the Queen's private study."

"Oh. Well, thank you Frida. I guess I'll be on my way then."

Frida gave the princess a customary bow and followed the young woman out of the courtyard without another word.

 

Anna knocked on the grand oaken doors that led into the Queen's study. Actually, it had been the King's study when their father had been alive, but Anna supposed it now belonged to Elsa, just like how their mother's garden technically belonged to the princess.

"Elsa? It's me, your sister." She scowled, suddenly feeling stupid. _Of course she'd know that. She sent for me after all! OK, new plan._ "I'm still technically not talking to you but you summoned me so I guess I'll make the exception for today."

"That's good." Elsa said the moment she opened the door. "Because we have something important to discuss."

Without further elaboration, Elsa tugged Anna into the room and closed the door behind them. Anna raised a curious brow at her sister's sudden urgency, but didn't push her for an explanation. When Elsa wanted to keep things a secret, Anna knew better than to pry, no matter how curious.

It wasn't until Anna sat down on the cushioned chair did Elsa hand over an open letter. The red head eyed the broken seal of Corona with incredulity then glanced at the beautifully written words meant only for the eyes of the Queen.

"Should I really be looking at this?" She questioned with a raised brow. "This seems personal. Like, 'only for the eyes of Queen Elsa' personal."

"It's not." Elsa replied with a quick shake of her head. "Have you heard of Rapunzel?"

Anna tore her eyes away from the letter, her curiosity growing tenfold. "Yeah, she's the crown Princess of Corona. I heard we were invited to attend her wedding two years ago but…"

With the way things were then, Anna knew Elsa had declined the invitation.

"She was one of the nobles to attend my coronation last year, do you remember? After the…incident…we've been corresponding through letters." Elsa gave Anna a tentative smile. "We've come up with an idea to better unite our kingdoms."

"How queenly of you, Elsa." Anna remarked, offhand. She skimmed the letter curiously, blue eyes stopping whenever her name was mentioned—which happen more often than she thought was appropriate. "What did you two come up with?"

"A festival."

Anna glanced up at the platinum blonde Queen. "A festival? With Corona?"

"And others," Elsa added. "She thought it would be a good idea to invite some of the neighboring kingdoms as well. It'll be a multicultural festival of sorts, open to anyone who wishes to attend."

"That sounds like a fantastic idea." Anna grinned, feeling genuinely excited for the first time in weeks. "But why are you telling me? What I think doesn't influence Arendelle politics."

That much was true.

How many times had Elsa withheld information about the state of their home during the various times she stressed over a particular matter? It was always with Kai Elsa confided in or Mikkel, the Royal Adviser to the Queen on all political affairs. She never discussed anything political with Anna.

Anna had always assumed it was because of her status as Princess that kept her way from important meetings such as war councils and law signings.

"You have more influence than you realize, Anna." Elsa stated with a slight frown. "You are my sister and the Princess of Arendelle, what you say holds just as much weight as my decisions. Hence, why I've brought you here today. You are the perfect person to oversee this festival. And I trust you." She smiled lovingly.

Corona's letter slipped out of Anna's slackened fingers, the red head's jaw suddenly open ajar. "Wait, what? You're putting me in charge of this?"

"Yes."

"Elsa! I can't be in charge of something like this!"

"Why not? You're the perfect person for the job."

"This is political! It's important! What if I mess up? What if no one likes any of the events I set up for the festival? What if Corona or, or, or King Eric decides to go to war with us because I had one of the stalls sell sea food or something?"

Elsa's gentle cold hands found Anna's face without notice. She raised the girl's freckled chin and smiled down at her as warmly as she could.

"Anna, please accept my offer. I'm truly sorry about breaking my promise to train you. I wasn't sure on how to fix this argument between us, so I thought maybe by letting you plan this festival, you would see that I do trust you; that I do believe in you."

Anna heaved a heavy sigh. She lent into her sister's cold touch and laid a warm hand against the pale cold one.

"OK." She accepted quietly. "I'll do it. But don't get upset if we end up going to war over it."

"Thank you," Elsa smiled then she furrowed her brows. "But why would King Eric wage war against us because of bad sea food?"

Anna rolled her eyes with a huff. "He won't go to war with us because of bad sea food, he'll go to war with us because I decided to sell sea food."

Elsa hummed thoughtfully. "Well, wars have started for less."

Anna chose not to comment. The thought of Arendelle going to war with the Danish because of her bad decisions didn't make her feel better. "Alright, so since I'm going to be in charge of this festival, don't I need a list of the kingdoms that will be attending?"

"You're right." Elsa grabbed a pile of papers and envelopes from the desk and dropped them right in front of Anna. "We have to send out the invitations first."

Anna felt a pout form on her lips, suddenly remembering why getting involved with anything political was optional for her. She really didn't like the paperwork involved.

Elsa couldn't help but laugh.

 

Anna spent the rest of her week coming up with ideas for Arendelle's first multicultural festival. Getting involved in such a historical thing made Anna forget why she and Elsa were fighting in the first place. She barely had any time to do anything else that didn't require her to eat, sleep and bathe.

She sent word out throughout the kingdoms that she sought ought various acts to perform for the festival. Elsa helped her enlist a variety of chefs from various nationalities to make their multicultural menu. Some of the finest decorators in all of Arendelle were hired to make the festival as beautiful and awe inspiring as it could be.

So far, Anna was happy with the way things were shaping up. Elsa, well, Elsa wouldn't dare admit it, but she was pleased to note that since Anna took up the position as Festival Planner, the princess hadn't found the time to practice her fire. Reinforcing the ice walls for the courtyard had been much easier to attain without the ferocity of Anna's flames assaulting it every night.

Elsa mused at the possibility of not needing to reinforce those ice walls when Anna released a frustrated growl. She snapped out of her daze and glance curiously at the girl, one fine brow arched delicately.

"Something wrong?"

"Oh, you know, just about everything." Anna huffed, scratching vigorously at something on her to-do list. "Vegar gave me a letter this morning from the King of the Southern Isles."

"Oh? And what did it say?"

Anna rolled her eyes. "The same thing it said the last two times King Marcus contacted us. He sends his 'most sincerest apologies for the treasonous acts of his ill minded baby brother' and wishes to send a representative of the Southern Isles to Arendelle's "Festival of Culture" in the hopes of better expressing how terribly sorry they are for almost getting us killed." She spat vehemently, the fountain pen in her hand suddenly exploding.

Elsa flinched away from her sister, spilling bits of black ink she'd been holding all over her wrist. Anna scowled at the molten mess of metal that had once been her pen and reached into her pouch for a backup.

"Sorry. Fountain pens and heat don't get along."

"Anna," Elsa sighed.

"I don't think it's a good idea to have anyone from the Southern Isles attend the festival." The red head continued as though she hadn't just melted a pen.

She walked into the town square, scrutinizing all the wooden stalls the carpenters were building for the festival.

"Even if Marcus is sorry that Hans is a jerk, how can we ever trust a representative from them?"

"Not everyone from the Southern Isles is evil, Anna." Elsa sagely commented, smiling kindly to some of the workers they passed.

"No." Anna admitted reluctantly. "But Hans was."

"Some people go to great lengths to become King."

"You can say that again…" Anna muttered.

The royal sisters stopped in front of three parked caravans colored in bright hues of reds, yellows, oranges and green. A few of the inhabitants wandered in and out of the caravans carrying silk, translucent fabrics; colorful masks of various shapes and sizes, and boxes filled with items only they knew. Some of the men were dressed in baggy clothes of purples and yellows, with rings in their ears and bandanas tied to their black heads.

One slender man in particular amused Anna greatly. He was dressed like a court jester, his clothes tight to his slender body and the colors almost as eccentric as his personality. Like the other men, his hair was as black as night, his beard short and pointed. He had but a single gold loop on his left earlobe that seemed to gleam in the sun's light. He was the leader of the gypsies from what Anna and Elsa could recall, and planned on entertaining the children at the festival with a puppet show. He bowed dramatically at the sight of the two young women, but continued to babble with his gypsy companions about the stories he would plan to tell.

The caravan closest to Anna opened unexpectedly and out came a beautiful woman with wavy midnight black hair and eyes as green as emeralds. Her skin was tanned from hours of dancing under the sun, but seemed to shimmer in the light as though she wore a light powder on her chest and neck. She wore a layered dress in shades of white, green and lavender that jingled ever so lightly from the golden colored bells hanging off a violet silk scarf tied to her waist.

She pulled her lush black hair into a pony tail, tying a soft baby pink ribbon around her mane to keep her face free from the unruly curtain. She gracefully stepped down the caravan, marveling at the spectacle of a bustling Arendelle when green eyes caught sight of the two monarchs. She graciously and politely, curtseyed for the women, a beautiful smile gracing plump red lips.

From behind her, Anna saw a small goat stumble down the caravan steps and smack behind the gypsy woman's legs, though she made no reaction to it.

"Your majesties, what an honor it is to finally meet you. My name is Esmeralda and this is Djali, my companion."

The goat bleated in greeting but kept a safe distance from the sisters, his eyes suspicious.

Elsa and Anna returned the greeting as politely as they could.

"The honor is ours, Esmeralda." Elsa replied. "Welcome to Arendelle. I hope the roads were kind to you and your companions."

"As kind as they can be during this time of year. We were on our way to Paris when Clopin heard wind of your festival." Esmeralda eyed the bustling workers with curious green eyes. "I don't think I've ever heard of something like this ever happening before. My family and I are truly honored that you will allow us to perform for such an event."

"Clopin says you're a magnificent dancer," Anna suddenly beamed. "You're going to perform for the festival right?"

"Yes," Esmeralda chuckled. "Djali and I plan on performing some of our more famous dances. That is, as long as Djali doesn't end up burning his tail again."

Djali snorted in offense, much to the ladies amusement, and trotted back into the caravan with his nose and tail in the air.

"So you dance with fire?" Anna queried, blue eyes bright.

Elsa felt her mood quickly sour, a small sliver of anxiety bubbling in her stomach.

Esmeralda nodded, surprised but sincerely pleased with Anna's interest in her art.

"Do you?"

"All the time!" The red head grinned. "I usually practice in the ballroom back at the castle but Elsa moved me out into the courtyard since I was less likely to burn anything there."

"Anna!"

"Would you like to join me during the performance then?" Esmeralda asked, much to Anna's pleasure and Elsa's chagrin. "The children always seem to like it best when there's more than one dancer on stage."

"Yes, of course! I would love to!" She gushed excitedly, ignoring Elsa's distraught reaction and the cold gust of wind that had swept past them.

"Wonderful! We'll start practice whenever you can. In the meanwhile, I need to go help the other prepare. Thank you again for allowing us the opportunity, your majesty."

Esmeralda gave a bow to the Queen then left to join the rest of the gypsies. They waited until she was out of ear shot before whirling on each other, two sets of blue eyes sharp with displeasure.

"Elsa!" "Anna!" They started in unison, expressions identical. They glared for a moment, one set of blue eyes tinging gold while the other seemed to lighten like frost.

"Really Anna? A fire dance?"

"Is that a problem your majesty?"

Elsa's eyes widened for a millisecond before the mask of authority fell into place. "Yes Anna that is a problem." She grabbed her sister's forearm a little rougher than she meant to and hissed, "You can't flaunt your powers like that Anna! It's irresponsible!"

Steam escape between Elsa's fingers; her sister's eyes now fully molten gold. Elsa did her damnedest to keep her body from wincing, not wanting to let her sister know that her flesh felt as hot as a cooking pot. She nearly did flinch when Anna sighed in exasperation and a stream of smoke escaped from her lips.

My sister is turning into a dragon! Elsa thought, suddenly horrified.

"It's just a performance." Anna stated, oblivious to her sister's thoughts. "Everyone would think it's just a show. I wish you'd stop overreacting to every little thing I do, Elsa. I can take care of myself."

"Anna—"

"Elsa please. Stop worrying about me. I'm doing this whether you like it or not."

Anna pulled away from the Queen's cold touch and started down the rest of the pathway. She stopped a few feet away and glanced over her shoulder.

"Are you coming? I still need help."

Elsa bit her tongue, still concerned with her sister's dance idea, but returned to the red head's side. They continued on their way with tension on their shoulders and worries in their hearts.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OCs Mikkel, Vegar, King Marcus, Frida and Kasia are mine.

Anna felt excited for the first time since the ball. With the festival only two days away, all the guests slated to attend and all the merchant stands prepped and ready for their vendors, Anna was finally able to say that things were coming together perfectly. There were only a few things still missing, like the winter wonderland Anna wanted Elsa to incorporate as part of Arendelle's contribution to the festival.

There was still issue on whether or not Corona's crown princess and her husband would arrive in time for the festival, as Elsa still had not received their letter of acceptance. At least the Corona merchants were ready in spite of their missing princess.

The dance Anna wanted to perform with Esmeralda was another thing that still needed a few tweaks. Elsa did not approve of the decision and Anna felt her sister never would, no matter how many times she insisted she could do this. Yet, she cast the doubt aside for something more optimistic.

All Elsa needed was a trial run. If she saw what the gypsy woman had planned for the performance then maybe the Queen would get off Anna's back and for once just trust in the red head's judgment.

Why she had such reservations about letting the towns people know about Anna's pyrokinetic abilities was beyond her.

Anna found her sister surrounded by court officials just outside the castle gates. Curious, she approached the crowned, recognizing a few faces as members of the council she hadn't seen since the party. In the center of it all was Elsa, pacing nervously on the cobble flooring. The Royal Adviser Mikkel tried to placate the Queen's anxieties, but by the flurries of snow raining down on the group, Anna figured he wasn't doing well.

"What's going on?"

The council members suddenly parted at her voice, surprised with her unexpected appearance. Before anyone could grace the princess with a response, Elsa was suddenly in front of her. Taking her hand, she pulled the girl into the front of the group and anxiously stared down the stone bridge as though she were expecting something—or someone—to arrive.

"Anna, I'm glad you're here. We have unexpected guests."

"No one from the Southern Isles, I hope." Anna frowned.

Elsa spared her sister a halfhearted smile, but it was Kai who responded.

"No my lady. One of the royals have decided to arrive to Arendelle much earlier than expected."

Anna blinked back at Elsa. "Who?"

A thundering sound of hooved feet suddenly filled the air followed by the angry yells from the carpenters fixing up last minute errors, a chorus of gasps from the council men surrounding them and a very feminine, boisterous laugh.

A beautiful cream colored horse came to an abrupt halt in front of the Arendelle sisters, its lush windswept blonde mane falling graciously against the horse's neck. A pretty faced young woman sat on top of the horse, her forest green eyes bright with amusement; her smile just as wide. Her cheeks were pink from heavy laughter and her short chocolate brown hair was messy and wild from having the wind course through it. It only took one sweep of her thin fingers to fix up the unruly mess.

A small green chameleon, who had been clutching onto the woman's hair for dear life, suddenly fell from her head and onto her lap, dazed. The monarch laughed.

"Sorry Pascal. Was I going too fast?"

Another flurry of steps came from behind; this time the noble steed was off-white with a pale blonde mane and tail. The stallion stopped with a snort beside the mare, almost as though he were angry he had just lost a race. The horses' rider was a man, the most handsome Anna or Elsa had ever seen, and terribly, terribly adorable with a discontent frown on his face.

"Was it really necessary to run off like that?" He complained. "Do you have any idea how mad Kasia is going to be when she finally gets here? And exactly who has to hear her lecture?!"

The brunette waved a careless hand at her male companion, a bubbly laugh escaping her lips. "Eugene, don't worry about it. You're good at sneaking around. Just hide from her!"

"I can't hide from her," He muttered. "That woman's got a sixth sense for finding me."

"Your majesty," Kai interrupted with a cough, expertly masking his amusement. "May I present to you the crown Princess of Corona, Her Grace, Rapunzel and her husband, Eugene Fitzherbert."

"Do I have to formally get introduced every time I come here?" Rapunzel grinned. She dismounted from her horse with the ease of a professional and handed the reins to Kai, who bowed respectfully in return. "I'm so happy to be back in Arendelle! Did you get my messenger falcon? You must have, if you're here. I wrote in my letter that we were going to be a few days ahead of schedule because I was just way too excited to see what Anna came up with for the festival."

"Uh…" was Anna's intelligent reply.

Elsa came quickly to the rescue. "We're happy to have you both back in Arendelle," She smiled pleasantly. "However, I must apologize. The guestrooms aren't quite ready yet. We only heard word of your arrival when my messenger spotted your ship in the horizon."

"So that silly bird got lost again." Rapunzel sighed. She turned to her husband precipitously. "I think it's time we retire Jinx. He lost another letter."

"Can you really blame him?" Eugene snorted, dismounting from his horse. "He got lost sending a letter to your mother when she was in the castle, did you really think he would be able to send Arendelle a letter?"

Rapunzel (and a few of the council members) chuckled at the imagery.

"I'm sorry for the inconvenience," the Corona Princess said, turning back to Elsa and Anna. "Sometimes when I get too excited about things I just go ahead and do them." She shrugged helplessly.

Elsa gave Anna a pointed look that made the red head pout in mock offense.

Rapunzel whipped around the bridge, squinting off into the town square and the decorations that had already been hung in preparation for the festival.

"It looks amazing! I can't wait for this thing to kick off!" She gushed jubilantly. "You did a magnificent job, Anna!"

Anna felt her cheeks grow hot at the compliment. She felt even more embarrassed when Eugene flashed her a beautiful smile, his gratitude less flamboyant, but genuine.

"Th-thank you." She managed, suddenly feeling very shy.

Elsa raised an eyebrow at the girl's strange meekness, but her attention was abruptly stolen by the sound of Mikkel clearing his throat.

"Shall we lead their graces inside, Your Majesty?" He questioned.

"Oh, yes, of course. My apologies. Please, let me show you around the castle."

"You don't have to trouble yourself, Elsa." Rapunzel started, following the group into the castle courtyard. "I know how busy Queens are with stuff like this. I'm sure Princess Anna wouldn't mind giving us a tour?"

The red head suddenly perked up at the suggestion. "Sure! I would love to!" She grinned.

Elsa mulled the thought over for a second before nodding. She gave her sister a meaningful look—one that told Anna to keep her powers a secret from Rapunzel and Eugene—before she allowed Mikkel and the council to whisk her away for some last minute festival funding.

 

Anna spent the rest of her day giving the Corona couple a tour of the castle.

She started with the ground floor and showed them the dining hall, the library, the ballroom, the study quarters—which was mainly for guests—and the way to the kitchens and servant quarters.

She showed them her mother's precious garden; she had to bite her tongue whenever Rapunzel or Eugene asked why there were patches of burnt flowers and grass littered throughout the otherwise beautiful garden. (She had forgotten about the damages thanks to the festival planning and was surprised her sister had yet to bring it up.)

She showed them around the second floor where the guestrooms and baths were stationed. She showed them the wing that held the Queen's study; the council room where all things important and political were often held. She gestured to Elsa's bedroom, but didn't lead them inside for the sake of her sister's privacy. She did the same with hers. (Eugene thought it was amusing how close the sister's bedrooms were in comparison to all the other rooms. Rapunzel, on the other hand, thought it was terribly cute.)

Anna even showed them the room they would be staying in once the maids had properly prepared it for them.

("Oh look Eugene! You can see the Ice Palace from here!"

"Wow. Now that's what I call a palace.")

They ran into Olaf somewhere along the tour.

Rapunzel warmed up to the little guy in only the two seconds it took for him to introduce himself, but Eugene eyed the snowman like he was a dangerous creation. Pascal's initial reaction was just as hostile and distrusting, but seeing Rapunzel hug the petite creature made the chameleon less likely to attack, much to Anna's relief. Still, he kept a wary eye on the snowman as they continued their tour.

The last place Anna brought them to was the frozen courtyard.

Rapunzel was the first to step into the square, her leaf green eyes wide in astonishment. Pascal nearly fell off her shoulder just at the mere sight of the ice walls enclosing the open court. Anna watched in minor amusement as the brunette followed the ice walls all the way to the very top her mouth propping open in a physical manifestation of her disbelief.

"This is amazing." She breathed.

Eugene eyed the thick walls with skepticism. He approached one nearest to him and wrapped his knuckles against the ice, testing it's sturdiness despite knowing how thick the walls were.

"What exactly does the Snow queen do here?" He asked curiously, light brown eyes glancing back at Anna.

The red head shrugged. "Nothing. She doesn't use this courtyard."

"So what's with the ice?" He queried with a frown.

He turned back to examine the wall and spotted something he hadn't noticed before. He reached out to the bitter wall, marveling at the strangely thin patch by the cobblestone ground. The ice seemed thicker on top than it did on the bottom, which piqued his interest.

Why would that be?

He stole another glance at the open sky above them, making note of the way the sun's rays would splash across the upper edge of the western wall. Logically, the ice would be thinner on the top, not the bottom. And yet, all along the eastern edge of the wall, by the floor, the ice was thin. He could just barely make out the stones making up the pillars through the thin layer.

How curious.

"The way this place is set up, it's almost like she was trying to… hide something." He murmured, taking in the yard in all of its entirety.

Rapunzel hummed thoughtfully.

"I wouldn't be surprised," She admitted. "Mother always said the new Queen of Arendelle liked her privacy. In all honesty Anna, I didn't even know Arendelle had a ruler until Elsa's coronation last year. You two were always shrouded in mystery."

"Until now," Anna added tentatively. "Because of Elsa's magic, my parents thought it would be safer to keep us from the public eye." She shrugged, but twirled the end of one of her braids. "They did what they thought was right to protect her at the time."

Rapunzel and Eugene gave Anna small smiles of understanding.

It was lucky for her that Rapunzel was royalty. Being Royal meant that princes and princesses were often privileged to information most people wouldn't know during their private lessons, like being privy to another royal family's past. Anna was certain Rapunzel knew of their isolated adolescence, just like she knew about Rapunzel's kidnapping as an infant. They might not have known of why it had happened at the time. (Anna didn't know Rapunzel had been kidnapped because her mother had eaten the last of a magical flower that had once been coveted by a witch, just like Rapunzel didn't know about Elsa's ice.) But at least they knew something of the other.

She needn't to explain and that made the conversation all the more easier.

"Well, anyway," the brunette grinned, dispelling the heavy atmosphere. "Will your sister be joining us for dinner? I'm starved!"

"Of course!" Anna laughed, mirroring Rapunzel's smile. "Elsa wouldn't miss it for the world."

Eugene glanced back at the ice walls for a moment, a cynical frown marring his handsome features. He pushed the notion aside for another time then followed his wife and Anna back into the castle.

 

Anna felt awkward in dinner that night.

It wasn't usual for them to have such casual guests, so when Rapunzel and Eugene joined them in the dining hall, Anna couldn't help but think the whole thing was surreal.

Rapunzel spent most of the time chatting with Elsa about things they corresponded about in their letters. Well mostly it was Rapunzel speaking to Elsa about things they wrote in their letters. Elsa merely smiled, chuckled, hummed and nodded at all the appropriate times. Her husband would pop in every now and again with a sarcastic remark, which would make one or all of the women laugh.

But for most of the dinner, it was just Rapunzel yammering away. Anna would have chimed in had she not been distracted with thoughts of the festival and her performance. (Or the fact that she hadn't had the time to properly release her flames since Elsa gave her the job.)

"So Anna," Eugene began, snapping the red head out of her thoughts. "I heard you planned the festival all on your own?"

"I had help," She admitted modestly. She grabbed her goblet for a drink and nearly spilled it on the table at the light steam that rose out of the goblet. Eugene frowned curiously but attributed the sudden jerk as Anna's fabled clumsiness. "Elsa helped out too. Most of my ideas had to be OK'd by her and she was the one who signed off on all the funding."

"Still, you did a pretty good job."

"Thank you." She smiled.

"So what's the story with the snowman?" He casually asked, watching Olaf attempt to give Pascal a hug.

Anna blinked in bewilderment at the loaded question. She wasn't sure how to answer it without delving too much into the story, so she decided to play it safe. She acted coy.

"Like you don't already know."

Eugene returned Anna's coyness with a debonair smile. "I wasn't aware your sister could make snowman come to life."

"She didn't know either at the time."

"I hope your room is to your comfort?" Elsa announced loudly, bringing Anna and Eugene to attention.

"It's more than enough. Thank you." Rapunzel smiled. "I really love the view. Arendelle is a gorgeous kingdom."

"Oh yeah," Eugene agreed. "That Ice Palace sure is something alright."

Elsa's body went ridged, buy the reaction was so subtle only Anna caught onto it. The red head glanced back at the former thief, a ghost of scowl forming on her face. She noted the way his calloused fingers wrapped loosely around his goblet. Her eyes quickly tinged gold.

"Is there a chance we could get a tour of that place?"

Queen Elsa gave them a strained, yet apologetic smile. "I'm afraid not. The Ice Palace isn't safe for visitors."

"Aw, that's a shame." Rapunzel sighed. "I can only imagine how—"

"OW! SHIT!" Eugene suddenly cried. He jumped out of his chair in a flash, frantically shaking his right hand as though it were on fire. The goblet he had held rolled innocently across the table, spilled wine already staining the pearl colored tablecloth. Gerda and a few other maids were at the table in an instant, apologizing to the man and promising him another glass, which he turned down.

Eugene stick his aching fingers into his mouth in a desperate attempt to alleviate the pain of burned fingers.

"Are you OK?" Rapunzel asked, leaf green eyes shrouded in concern. "What happened?"

"I don't know." He muttered, scanning his saliva coated digits. He glared at the offending goblet suspiciously, now no longer rolling across the table, but perched properly on its stem. "It was like…I don't know. Maybe I just pinched myself or something."

"Perhaps you're just tired." Elsa supplied helpfully. "It's been a long day after all."

"Yeah, you're right. Come on Eugene, let's go to bed."

Anna watched the Corona couple get led away by one of their many maids when ice suddenly frosted her goblet. She lazily turned to her eyes, blue eyes unimpressed.

Elsa's wintery orbs narrowed in disapproval. "Really Anna? That was childish."

"Like freezing my goblet wasn't?" She quipped. She tipped over the frozen cup and frowned when her half-finished drink stayed in place.

"What did you think you were doing?"

Anna brought the frosted rim against her lips and blew. The liquid inside defrosted in an instant, leaving only small patches of ice inside to keep her drink nice and cold. She drank her win in leisure, feeling the room cool down considerably in response to her nonchalance.

"He made you uncomfortable." She stated simply. "So I returned the favor."

"You cannot use your powers in that way Anna!"

"I can't use my powers in _any_ way, Elsa!" The girl snapped.

Elsa rose from the table unexpectedly, her expression stony but fierce.

"We're not having this discussion again." She turned on her heel and swiftly left the hall, leaving Princess Anna behind to simmer.

 

"Ugh! She's so infuriating!" Anna growled, pacing fanatically in front of Kristoff and Sven, who watched her in a mixture of exhaustion, concern and confusion.

The duo had just been ready to retire for the day when a frantic set of knocks almost burnt down their door. Kristoff had to usher the fuming red head a few feet away from the cabin when he saw that every step she took melted the snow around her.

"What did Elsa do now?" He sighed tiredly.

Anna gave him a scathing glare.

"Haven't you been listening?"

"It's kinda hard to understand Annaese when you're ranting and spewing out fire." He quipped, rubbing his eyes.

"I don't 'spew out' fire, Kristoff." She huffed angrily. "I'm not a dragon."

"Well you're spewing out something." He remarked, eying the steam radiating from the snowy ground.

Anna released an exasperated sigh. "This isn't about that Kristoff! Focus!"

"What do you want me to say, Anna? Your sister is just worried about you. Can you blame her?"

"How many times do I have to tell everyone that I can take care of myself?" She huffed. She waved away the puff of smoke impatiently. "Why can't Elsa just realize that? Did I ever tell you she canceled our lessons?"

"No, but I know about it." Kristoff yawned. "Olaf told me."

Anna scowled. How could she have forgotten? Kristoff had sided with Elsa in that argument.

"Yeah, well… you know she made me in charge of the festival? At first I thought it was just her way of trusting me—like she said—but then, after a while, I started to realize I barely had any time to properly practice with my magic. I think she purposely gave me the job just so that I wouldn't practice!" She shook the heat from her fingers, not wanting to start a fire so close to Kristoff's cabin. "She doesn't want me using my powers, Kristoff. She absolutely hates it!"

"I don't think she hates it." He said. "I hate it. I think Elsa just fears it. Fire isn't exactly a beautiful element, Anna. It's savage, vicious and dangerous if left on its own. Fire is only useful when it's constricted. Give it enough room to breathe and it'll keep me warm on those bitter winter nights, but any more than that and my cabin will catch fire."

"Fire is beautiful." She murmured, her back to the blond. "It cooks the food you eat, it keeps you warm at night. It makes our weapons and our tools; provides us the ability to mold our materials in any way we want. It creates our currency. How can you tell me that fire is not beautiful?" She whirled on him, her golden eyes blazing. "The sun is a fire ball in the sky, Kristoff! If it weren't for the light of the sun, we wouldn't be able to survive!"

"Your fire isn't light Anna!" Kristoff barked. "Your fire is a curse!"

Anna's heart hammered painfully against her rib cage; her blood suddenly hot like the sun. Her chest felt painful, as though the magma that was her life essence burned her from the inside out; but in the face of stubborn pride, Princess Anna kept her pain from showing. The only visible signs of her aggravation lay in the honey hue of her eyes, the muddy puddle around her feet and the bellowing steam from rapidly melting snow. She tore her eyes away from the angry blond, choosing to stare at the kingdom of Arendelle instead.

"My fire is only a curse if I make it so." She responded quietly.

Kristoff exhaled. "Anna—"

"It's time for bed," She interjected coldly. "Sorry for disturbing you. See you at the festival."

Kristoff watched her leave, their angry voices echoing in his mind.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Harmonia is also mine
> 
> This chapter and the next chapter are my favorite chapters in the whole story.

Elsa rubbed her aching temples soothingly.

Her day had only just began and already the stress was hammering against her skull. Anna had forgo breakfast with her and the Corona couple. Though, Elsa wasn't surprised, she expected it even, but still, she had held onto the sliver of hope that Anna would be present for Rapunzel's sake.

Alas, she was wrong.

Another troubling manner came from her report of the town Mikkel had given her. The summer heat in Arendelle was at the highest it had ever been. Elsa could not recall a time in which the kingdom had been so hot and dry. The heat was so intense, the ice walls Elsa created for Anna in the courtyard were thin and brittle now—even without her sister's assault. (Not that Anna had been able to practice since the festival began, of course.)

Worse yet, Arendelle was becoming too hot for Olaf. There was only so much Elsa could do to keep him cool, but not even the mini blizzards his cloud produced could keep the snowman from leaving a trail of puddles wherever he went.

Elsa had plans to send him to the Ice Palace with Marshmallow until the heat wave passed. With the amount of ice and snow left on the Northern Mountains, she was certain both brothers would be able to survive the rest of the summer.

That brought up another problem. Maintaining the frozen wonderland concept Anna wanted to incorporate for the festival would be difficult. With her sister performing a fiery dance with Esmeralda, Elsa didn't think she could handle the stress of maintaining the ice and keeping watch on her rumbustious little sister. It all made her want to scream in frustration.

She dropped her head with a groan, pushing aside the aggravating reports of heat waves, water supply shortages and festival funding shortcomings.

She was frustrated, irritated and exhausted with the world.

She didn't quite feel as hot as the others did, but just the fact that she felt muggy and uncomfortable sitting in the study was enough to alarm her how truly hot Arendelle must be on the outside.

Kristoff's ice business must be making him a fortune right about now.

"Ugh, it's so hot!"

Elsa raised her head in time to see Rapunzel and Eugene step into the room holding three bowls of shaved ice covered in red syrup. Rapunzel fanned herself futilely with her hand as she plopped down on the chair in front of Elsa's desk, using that same hand to dig into her frozen treat with a silver spoon.

"I thought you might want one so we brought you a treat." Rapunzel explained as Eugene handed the platinum blonde her own bowl. "It's cherry flavored!"

"Thank you." Elsa said, pulling the confection close.

"I didn't know Arendelle could get so hot this time of year." Eugene commented, greedily devouring his treat.

"It doesn't." The Queen admitted.

"It must be one of those years. You know, it's so hot you can fry eggs on the floor." The ex-thief smirked, looking as though that were the very thing he did that morning. (Elsa wouldn't be surprised. She did vaguely remember Olaf commenting about making breakfast in the courtyard.) "Which is ironic considering the last time we were here, we could make eggcicles. I'm starting to think Arendelle doesn't know how to have a normal summer."

"No, I don't think it does." She chuckled. "Not a lot of people know what the weather is supposed to be like in Arendelle."

"Which is why we're having this festival." Rapunzel smiled, lips, teeth and tongue red from the cherry flavored syrup. "We're going to show the world what this Kingdom is made of!"

That was what worried Elsa.

 

Anna had been practicing, on the little time she managed to grab, with Esmeralda for their dance. Luckily for her, Esmeralda kept it relatively simple for the sake of time.

The gypsy worked mainly with torches and staffs. Sometimes she demonstrated with wires thick enough for her to hold, but thin enough that it appeared as though the fire were just hovering in the air. It was usually those times Anna marveled at how enchanting and beautiful fire could be. She had always known it to be, but watching somebody else play with fire cemented the thought wholly in her mind.

Originally, Anna was only meant to have a small role in Esmeralda's pyro display, but after having watched what the princess could do—under false pretenses of course—Esmeralda offered her a dance of her very own, which was why Anna and Esmeralda were together on that scorching summer afternoon.

They practiced mostly by the docks where water was abundant should anything happen. (It often did thanks to Djali's and Anna's clumsiness.)

Esmeralda had just finished practicing the entirety of her routine for any kinks and errors when Djali bleated in complaint. The black haired gypsy wiped the sweat off her brow as she dipped the flaming torch into the water. It extinguished with a loud sizzle.

"I know Djali, but we're almost done." She soothed, sprinkling the goat with water she cupped in her hand. He bleated again happily before jumping into the ocean, cooling off his poor overheated body.

Anna laughed.

"What did you think of the performance?"

"It's fantastic!" She clasped her hands excitedly. "Everyone is going to love it, I'm sure!"

"I'm glad," She smiled. "How is your dance coming along? Do you want to show me what you have so far or keep it as a surprise for the festival?"

"I think I've worked out all the kinks. I've been practicing it when I can but I don't think it'll be as beautiful as your performance."

"You have a way with fire, Anna," Esmeralda said encouragingly. "I'm sure you'll do amazingly. I look forward to seeing it."

_At least someone is._ Anna thought glumly.

 

Arendelle castle was bustling by the time nightfall fell. Many monarchs and families of high social standing had arrived by ship as the sun was setting beyond the horizon. Most of the maids were doing their best to accommodate the new arrivals as quickly as they could, while Elsa, Anna, Rapunzel and Eugene gathered in the council room with Mikkel.

"This is so exciting!" Rapunzel grinned, watching more ships pull into the harbor in spite of the darkness making difficult to see from where the ships originated. "There hasn't been this large of a gathering since… well I don't know, but I'm pretty sure we're making history here."

"Yes my lady," Mikkel replied. "We are most certainly making history."

"Are all the guests accounted for?" Elsa asked the adviser.

The tall man glanced down at his notes, dark brown eyes skimming along the list of names he had marked off as present.

"Most have arrived safely, Your Majesty. As well as a few unwanted officials."

Elsa ignored her sister's less than pleased eye roll. They both knew from where this unwanted official had come from.

"Don't you just hate it when that happens?" Eugene quipped, eying a world map posted to the wall. "You throw an invitation only party and boom, you've got party crashers."

"We did make it an open invitation festival." Anna said, despite feeling irritated that a Southern Isle representative would be in attendance and temporarily living in their very castle.

"How many royals from the neighboring countries are we talking about here?"

Mikkel glanced at his list. "Lots."

Eugene snorted. "That's informative. Give me names, Mik."

With a slightly repulsed frown at being nicknamed 'Mik', the Royal Adviser turned his attention toward the Queen, who smiled in amusement and nodded her head. Mikkel refocused on the list of dignitaries and cleared his throat.

"We have Her Majesty Queen Ariel, her daughter Melody and Princess Melody's most precious child, Princess Harmony—"

"Princess Harmony is the cutest baby ever." Rapunzel gushed. "Well, she was a baby the last time I saw her. She's like, what, two now?"

"King Eric wasn't with them?" Anna asked.

Mikkel shook his head. "Her Majesty Queen Ariel explained he had very important and time sensitive matters to attend to back in their kingdom, but he expresses his apologies and wishes you all a wonderful time."

"I guess King Eric won't wage war against us then." Elsa whispered beside her sister. Anna gave her a playful roll of her eyes.

Eugene nodded at the names, vaguely recalling a Melody and Harmony at their wedding day and Rapunzel making funny faces at a child in a black haired dignitaries arms. He signaled Mikkel to continue, light brown eyes still focused on the world map more out of boredom than actual interest. (Although, he did vaguely wonder what it was like in the Americas.)

"Her Majesty Queen Cinderella was set to make the voyage to Arendelle, but due to her age, it was best she not attempt the arduous journey. She has sent her daughter, the crown Princess Alexandria and her husband as representatives of their kingdom."

"That's a shame. I would have loved to see her again." Rapunzel sighed. "Cinderella is an inspiring woman."

"We'll see her soon enough." Elsa stated, taking a quick sip of her drink. "Princess Alexandria's coronation will be in the fall."

"Oh, that's right."

Princess Anna suddenly sighed. She propped her chin against her palm, languid blue eyes on Mikkel as he continued to read off the names of people she only knew through her lessons as a child.

No wonder Elsa kept her out of politics, even going over the guest list was boring!

 

Anna found it impossible to sleep that night, which wasn't surprising seeing as how she rarely got a good night's rest these last few weeks. (Or month, actually. Anna hadn't been able to sleep a full cycle since the manifestation of her powers. What with all the late night practices that sometimes kept her up until dawn and the overwhelming blanket of heat coursing through her veins, Anna was surprised she'd been able to function for this long without some sort of negative affect.)

Tonight wasn't like all the other nights. She wasn't up late because she was practicing for the festival or releasing her powers. She wasn't going over last minute festival plans or giving Elsa another list of things shed need for the festival.

She was up simply for one reason: it stared down at her in a vast sea of black with a shimmering curtain of stars.

The sky was awake and so was she.

Anna stood in the center of the frozen courtyard, well, formerly frozen courtyard. The air might have been less hazy and hot with the sun gone, but the atmosphere was still muggy and thick. It was too hot for Elsa's ice walls to stay intact; large chunks had already fallen from the top and shattered in a spectacular mess across the yard. The floor was wet with melted ice, but Anna knew, once the sun returned to the sky, there would be no trace of the puddles.

"I had a feeling you would be out here."

Anna spared her sister a glance before gazing up at the sky.

"The sky is awake," was her only reply.

Elsa joined her side, wintery blue orbs gazing into the heavens.

"The ice is melting." Anna stated after a while.

The Queen briefly inspected the patchy walls of ice. "The air is too hot for my ice."

"How are you going to manage the frozen wonderland?"

"I'll figure something out." Elsa retorted.

Anna turned to her sister.

"Will you watch my performance, Elsa?" She asked quietly.

Elsa gazed into Anna's blue eyes.

"Yes," She replied, equally quiet.

 

The sound of music filled the air that morning as herds of people from across the lands came to celebrate Arendelle's very first multicultural festival. The colors of multiple kingdoms dotted sections of the town and various smells from various different cultures permeated through the air.

Anna dawned on a simple summer dress in the colors of Arendelle royalty then hurried out of the castle to watch her sister create the frozen wonderland. She met up with Eugene at the castle gates then watched as the Snow Queen transformed their castle courtyard into a winter wonderland. She added a few more features that led out into the castle square: a skating rink for those who couldn't get enough of it, an ice slide for the children to play on and lined the bridge with beautiful sculptures of frozen mythical creatures.

Anna eyed Elsa's beautiful creations with a mixture of awe and jealousy. She dragged the Queen away the moment she was done and followed up with Eugene, who had joined Rapunzel and Olaf's side the moment Elsa had finished the slide.

With anticipatory smiles, the group wandered into the crowd.

"This is incredible!" Rapunzel breathed, clutching onto her husband's arm. "You did a great job Anna."

The red head blushed modestly.

"It was your idea."

"Actually, it was Eugene's idea." She grinned, giggling at the embarrassed look on the former thief's face.

"Then thank you, Eugene, for such a magnificent idea." Elsa smiled sweetly.

Eugene cleared his throat. "Yeah, well, you're welcome."

"Look! It's Kristoff and Sven!" Olaf cried suddenly. "Hi Kristoff! Hi Sven!" He waved fanatically at the approaching pair.

Once the blond and the reindeer joined up with the group, Anna decided to take them around booth by booth.

Rapunzel and Pascal tried the various dishes the world had to offer while Eugene and Kristoff wandered off to a trader merchant's booth, having seen a few gold colored trinkets gleaming in the sun's light.

Olaf followed Sven's nose elsewhere, the reindeer having caught a particular scent he desperately wanted to follow.

Elsa and Anna and Anna walked side by side, their elbows brushing every now and then thanks to the crowded street. They came across familiar and not so familiar faces during their stroll. They ran into little Princess Harmony, who tripped over her dress and fell into Anna's knees in an ungracious tumble. Melody came to the toddler's rescue, apologizing for her daughter's clumsiness despite the amusement and praised the Arendelle sisters for such a marvelous festival. Queen Ariel gave the young women a gracious bow out of respect and gratitude then followed her granddaughter toward the ice slide, Melody in tow.

The girls didn't stop again until they came across a particular merchant with a bushy greying mane of hair and a large hooked nose. His eyes were slate gray; his clothes weather worn and ragged. He appeared to be sweating beneath his various layers, but he held a kind, friendly smile on his glistening face.

Another person inspected his wares. A young woman by the look of it, with the wildest bush of curly red-orange hair. Her dress was thin compared to some of the other outfits they had seen; it was the color of teal with golden trimmings and beadery along the hems. Strapped to her back was a long bow and quiver—a definite sight considering she was a young woman in a dress.

"How much for the bow?" The young woman asked, pointing to a nicely designed bow just behind the merchant.

"Ah, fine choice lass, very fine choice indeed…"

"You've brought people from far off places, Anna." Elsa mused as they continued back the way they came. "The DunBroch tribe don't often travel far from their land."

"Scotland isn't that far from Arendelle."

"Far enough that they don't trouble themselves with our affairs." The Snow Queen remarked.

Elsa and Anna met up with Rapunzel once more. She offered them a mound of food from her plate as they waited for Eugene and Kristoff to finish arguing over the existence of genies and magic lamps.

"Wait, wait, wait! Are you telling me that after fighting a witch and marrying a girl with healing hair you DON'T believe genies could exist?!"

"You're trying to convince me into believing in a guy with semi-phenomenal, nearly cosmic powers." Eugene re-stated. "How can anyone believe in that?"

Kristoff brought a hand to his forehead. "Because you fought a witch!"

"That's different."

"They're the same!"

"How are they the same? That's like saying there's such a thing as dragons or, or a wizarding academy for witches. It's absolutely ridiculous. You're ridiculous. Why am I even talking to you?" Eugene laughed, turning away from Kristoff.

Kristoff followed behind him, sputtering incredulously. "Dragons do exist! I've seen one!"

"Oh come on!"

"I'm not sure what to make of this conversation." Anna commented, her mouth full of Danish chocolate.

Elsa and Rapunzel nodded in agreement.

 

When night returned to Arendelle and the searing heat of the sun cooled off just a little, the festival performances were kicking off with a bang.

Anna joined up with Esmeralda an hour before the gypsies were set to perform. In spite of the bubbling anxiety Anna knew was gnawing in her sister because of her performance, she was looking forward to it.

Elsa was not.

And it showed.

There was a small flurry of snow drifting down around her. Kristoff, Olaf, Sven and Rapunzel didn't mind the light dusting. It kept them cool from the mugginess of the day. Eugene, on the other hand, eyed the light snowfall almost jealously. He wanted to cool down too.

"Where's Anna?" Olaf whispered to Elsa.

The Snow Queen heaved a resigned sigh. "She's going to perform with the gypsies."

"Oh."

Kristoff's eyes suddenly widened "She's what?!"

 

Anna paced outside of Esmeralda's caravan nervously, wringing her hands habitually, her hair caressing her arms. She had freed majority of her hair specifically for this performance and had braided thin yellow-orange ribbons into small segments of her hair.

She had changed out of her summer's dress for something a little more proper. She had donned on a tight fitting outfit one of the kind gypsies had created specifically for her, thanks to Esmeralda's quick thinking of course. She wore black pants that hugged her legs, but left enough room to maneuver comfortably in. Along the length of her legs was a flame in hues of red and orange that shimmered with just a hint of gold along the edges of the stitched in flame.

Her stomach was bare, save for the black-ashy design of smoke crawling from her waist all the way toward her chest. (Esmeralda had thought that because Anna had felt so shy about revealing so much bare skin, she'd paint along the girl's flesh to give the allusion that she wasn't entirely bare skinned.) The smoke design crawled all the way up to Anna's left breast, ending in a swirl where her heart lay beneath. She wore a halter top of the same black and red design. That too shimmered with the smallest hint of gold glitter.

Her lips were colored the shade of the brightest red while her eyes, surprisingly enough, were shaded in blacks and grays. It reminded her of falling ash from a volcano.

Anna was ready for the performance of a life time, but her nerves were getting the best of her.

She took in a deep breath, expelling the steam from inside her like a cooking pot. She wiggled the heat from her fingers, sending out sparks of light from her nails and clenched her hands into fists.

"Are you ready?" Esmeralda asked, stepping out of the caravan. She too was dressed for the performance, although her outfit was more conservative than Anna's.

The red head nodded. "Ready as I'll ever be."

Esmeralda smiled. "Good. Let's go."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original A/N: Anna's outfit in the last section of this chapter is based on an actual costume design I saw a fire performer wear in one of my various video searches on Fire Performances. She had like this insanely awesome make up design on her skin that looked like bellowing smoke from a volcano, so I thought "Yep, Anna's wearing that." and viola! Incorporated into the story.
> 
> Here are some Mini Fun Facts for the end of this chapter:
> 
> \- Harmonia is an OC (but that's kind of obvious)
> 
> \- Technically speaking, the only Disney movies that could probably exist in the same era is Cinderella, The Little Mermaid, Tangled and Frozen, as all four stories take place in the 1800s and 1840s respectively. (I know there was some argument about Tangled taking place in the 1700s, but I'm sticking with the 1800s for the simple fact that they had them cameo in the movie as an Easter Egg-so! Writer's Privilege.)
> 
> \- Cinderella's daughter, Alexandria, is also an OC, but I took her name from Cinderella's baby in Once Upon a Time


	10. Chapter 10

Anna had never been one to shy away from the spotlight.

She was a princess after all, everything she did was always watched by invisible eyes. Growing up in isolation had helped as well. It fueled the girl's desire to be seen, to be acknowledged and spoken to—never ignored. The manifestation of her fire worsened that desire, because then, she wanted people to know that she was just as special as Elsa; that she wasn't just the Princess of Arendelle or Elsa's klutzy little sister.

When she joined Esmeralda in a dance with a flaming staff that she twirled with grace she never knew she was capable of, she felt surreal.

The expression on Kristoff's face when she caught a spinning baton Esmeralda had tossed at her made her laugh in exhilaration.

The look of awe on both Olaf's and Rapunzel's face whenever they did a spectacular trick made the flames on stage burn like a beacon of light amidst the vast darkness of night.

It was the look on Elsa's face that told Anna the whole thing had been a great idea. When Esmeralda left Anna the stage for her solo, it was to her sister she stared at—and what she saw made her heart fly.

The way she manipulated her fire with the props she'd been given; the way the world seemed to darken when Anna's flames flew all about; the way she could write words in the air; spin a fiery creatures to life; it all accumulated down to that one emotion on Elsa's face: the realization that fire could be just as beautiful as ice.

The awe and wonder that rippled across the faces of the crowd was overwhelming. The cheer that followed after, deafening.

Yet Anna's joy was short lived. She felt strained. The excitement of the day coupled with the exhaustion of a bad night's rest slammed into her mind like a freight train. The stress of planning the festival; of arguing with Elsa and Kristoff, coupled with the intense heat wave in Arendelle and the lack of proper release of her flame overloaded her mind, her heart and her soul.

A white hot pain erupted in her heart, squeezing the air from her lungs, and making her fall in the midst of her dance. She heard her sister scream amongst the horrified gasps, but her ears were immediately overwhelmed by the sudden roar of fire bursting from her flesh. It rippled across the stage, setting everything in its path ablaze.

The horrified gasps turned into screams of terror. The crowd of hundreds immediately tried to flee, knocking everything in their path aside to escape the flames.

Having been in the front row, Elsa erected a wall of ice six inches thick to block the torrent of blue flame raging at them. Holding her ground was immensely difficult, especially when her sister's flame was so hot it rapidly melted through her protective wall.

Anna struggled to regain her footing, yet the painful heat that cooked her body from the inside kept her muscles from fully functioning; her energy drained. Everything she touched seemed to catch fire, even the clothes she wore.

She watched through the blur of her darkening vision as the decorations of the festival lit up in white-blue fire, slowly curling and blackening into ash.

The last thing she heard before the darkness claimed her was Kristoff's angry voice reminding her what she had never wanted to believe. What she had accidentally proved.

_Your fire isn't light… your fire is a curse…_

 

It wasn't usual for castles in Arendelle to have an infirmary. When royalty got sick, a royal physician was hired and brought to the castle. When servants got sick, it was their own duty to go see a physician or if they couldn't afford one, do everything in their power to keep from spreading the illness.

When Elsa became Queen, she had debated back and forth with Mikkel and Kai on whether or not building an infirmary wing was beneficial for the workers in the castle. No decision had ever been made and it stayed as just a possible proposition on Elsa's desk for months on after. But when the festival had first been brought up, one of the things Elsa made sure to create was a temporary infirmary wing. She had hoped the wing would never be needed, but Fate was a fickle mistress.

When Anna collapsed that night and set her blue fire free on the festival, Elsa had never been so relieved to have planned ahead than she did then.

Extinguishing magic fire had proved to be a laborious task. Regular water from the sea proved useless against the sapphire flames. It was much too hot for the water to even attempt to reach it. It simply vaporized the moment it was within proximity of the heat. It was only through Elsa's snow and ice did they manage to put out most of the flames and even then, parts of the town were still smoldering. It took a mixture of dirt and gallons of water to smother the fire to death.

Once the blasted inferno had been extinguished, it was Elsa who carried her unconscious sibling into the castle, for the red head's skin was much too hot for Kristoff or Eugene to old and the stark nakedness of her skin made all others falter.

She frosted the girl's room in thick layers of ice; made a light flurry of snow descend from the ceiling, all in hopes of chasing the heat from the bedroom and cool the atrocious fire within from cooking her sister alive. Anna's breath came out in tiny puffs, her naked body quaking lightly for the first time since her powers came to be.

Elsa tucked her under the sheets, more so to hide her modesty than actual warmth then watched in dismay as vapor began to radiate from the girl's skin. Her body was already heating up again.

"Oh Anna," She whispered, brushing a few strands of sunset red hair from the girl's forehead. She pressed a gentle kiss against the overheated temple, silently praying to whatever Gods that be for her sister to be awake and well.

She didn't leave her sister's side until she was sure the air was cool enough to keep Anna's heat from melting away the frost; and even then, she stayed a few seconds longer, dreading what awaited her outside the door.

When she could stall no longer, Elsa steeled herself, slipped on the mask of the Snow Queen of Arendelle then quietly slipped out of the snowy room.

 

The council room was in an uproar.

"I can't believe this! I knew there was something fishy about her the moment I laid my eyes on her." Eugene confessed, pacing around the room with left over adrenaline. He whirled on Elsa the minute she shut the door. "Why didn't you say something? Your sister can make fire!"

"What my sister does was never of any importance to anyone outside my family." Elsa remarkably coldly. "Your only concern was to the festival. Not her privacy."

"Privacy?!"

"Eugene—" Rapunzel tried but her husband raised a hand.

"That's not a privilege to privacy Elsa! What we just witnessed—that crazy blue fire thing—is power! Hiding something like that from everyone—are you insane?! It's only fair on behalf of Corona's alliance that we were told about your sister's powers!"

The atmosphere in the room dropped noticeably as Elsa's light blue eyes narrowed in anger.

"Why would that be 'fair' for Corona or any of Arendelle's alliances?" She hissed. "Do you plan on waging war against us because you fear our magic? Or did you plan on making us weapons against your enemies?"

"Enough!" Merida scowled, standing in between the two. "There will be no talks of war here! Stand down!"

Eugene and Elsa drew back from each other, their eyes blazing with an unresolved challenge. It was the Snow Queen who broke away the eye contact, the rational part of her mind trying desperately to tape down her anxieties and anger before she too lost control and make things worse. Arendelle didn't need another reason to fear.

"How is Anna?" Rapunzel asked tentatively, her fingers softly caressing Pascal.

Elsa sighed tiredly. "She'll be OK." The platinum blonde turned to Mikkel, who looked up with wide eyes, surprised to be suddenly acknowledged. "Do you have a report about the damages?"

"You don't need a report. Just go to the infirmary." Eugene muttered darkly.

She ignored him.

Mikkel searched through his pile of papers until he found one with hastily scribbled ink decorating along the page. He scanned the report with a careful eye, his expression grim and pale.

"Forty percent of the town has been destroyed by the fire. Hundreds of families have been displaced, hundreds more injured. Ten people have been reported missing—"

"Any fatalities?" Elsa interrupted, rubbing her temples.

"At the moment? Seven have been reported, but the physicians expect more should the injured not make it through the night."

Kristoff and the others felt the cold fill the room before Elsa's face reacted to the news. A melancholic flurry of snow began to pour outside the window, but turned to light rain due to the heat of summer. (Elsa couldn't help but feel the rain was more appropriate than snow.)

"Don't worry about the damages," Queen Ariel spoke up, catching everyone's attention. She approached the young Queen and laid a warm, gentle hand on her shoulder. "On behalf of our friendship—and of our alliance—Denmark shall help rebuild Arendelle."

"I can't ask that of you, Ariel."

"You're not." The graying red head smiled warmly. "I'm doing it without your consent."

"Me too!" Rapunzel stated, rising out of her chair, Pascal safely perched on her shoulder. "As crown Princess of Corona, I will also help fund the rebuilding effort."

"And what about those fatalities?" Eugene asked.

The atmosphere in the room tensed again, not wanting to entertain the thought of having Princess Anna know the true extent of her accident.

Kristoff turned to Elsa, watching the Queen stare out the window in melancholy.

"She needs to know, Elsa." He said softly.

She closed her eyes. "I'll tell her."

 

Anna opened her eyes at the sound of the door, knowing instinctively that it was her sister. She hadn't been awake for long, ten minutes tops, she supposed, but the desire to leave her bedroom hadn't urged her to move.

She didn't want to leave the soft comfort of her bed, even if it was a little moist from melted frost. She didn't want to crawl out of bed to properly hide her nudity, nor did she feel the need to wash away the black smear of her makeup from her heated flesh. She didn't want to untie the small ribbons from her hair; didn't want to undo the miniature braids.

All she wanted to do was watch her sister's light flurries turn to rain in her bedroom.

It physically pained her when Elsa's presence strengthen those flurries into a proper snow fall.

"How can you rest when your bed is wet?"

"I know that's not what you want to ask me."

Elsa pulled the vanity stool beside the bed and sat. Anna kept her back towards her sister, golden eyes watching the snow.

"How do you feel?" Elsa asked after a moment of silence.

"Like a volcano."

The light shower of snow were beginning to melt again.

Elsa made to speak again, when Anna beat her to the punch.

"You know what the difference between our powers are?" The red head asked, not truly expecting a reply. "It takes a while for the cold to hurt."

"Anna—"

"When you froze Arendelle for a day," the princess continued, ignoring her sister. "The damage wasn't lasting. No one got hurt except for maybe you and me."

"Where are you going with this?"

Anna finally turned to her sister, golden eyes glassy with unshed tears, yet sharp with internal anger. "Did I hurt anyone?"

Elsa quickly looked away, suddenly finding it difficult to look her sister in the eyes.

That was all the answer she needed.

Heat pooled into the room with such intensity, all the frost and snow Elsa had been trying hard to maintain turned to water then vapor in an instant. Anna buried her face deep into her pillow, trying her best to muffle the anguished cries of her broken heart.

Elsa's own heart broke with hers. She tried to reach out, wanting to comfort her little sister, but withdrew her hand with a hiss. Anna's flesh was too hot to touch, even for the Queen of ice and snow.

Things only got worse when the heat intensified.

Elsa couldn't breathe.

She needed to leave. She had no choice.

Anna's tears fell harder when she did.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is still dedicated to JoMiSm on FF.net for providing the song at the end.

Cleaning up what little remained of the festival and the town began in vigor the following morning. Eugene took it upon himself to oversee the work while Rapunzel borrowed one of Elsa's messenger birds to deliver a message of aid to her parents in Corona.

What little remained of their guests spent time packing, the rest had already set sail throughout the night. For those remaining guests who had been unfortunate enough to have been caught in the blaze couldn't leave until their burns were well enough for travel or their dead were identified and prepared in their caskets.

Among the few still lingering was Queen Ariel and her daughter. Their ship would set sail at nightfall, when the seas were calmer and the light of the sun no longer scorching. They, like Eugene and Rapunzel, often spent their time in the infirmary, sharing words of sympathy to loved ones lost and soothing the injured with Ariel's singing.

She always did have the most beautiful voice.

Elsewhere, Elsa found herself standing in front of Anna's door, feeling uncertain and nervous. (She wondered for a moment if this was how Anna felt all those times she came to her door during their separated childhood.)

Hesitantly, she knocked. "Anna? Please come out."

On the other side, her sister made no move to turn the knob.

She sat in front of the door, legs drawn up to her chest, her hair a wild mess from the fitful sleep she had barely managed to get. She smeared the black and gray make up from the festival across her arm in melancholic boredom, her nightgown obstructing the rest of the make up on her stomach.

Elsa rested her forehead against the door, memories of their childhood overwhelming her thoughts.

"Anna… do you want to build a snowman?"

Anna felt a sardonic smile grace her lips.

"So you can watch it melt?" She answered.

Elsa closed her eyes in momentary anguish. She steeled herself. "If you don't want to come out then please, let me in."

She waited and waited.

And hoped. Prayed even, but Anna's resulting silence made the ache in her chest all the more prominent. She pulled away from the door, casting one last look of longing before turning away. She barely took a step when a soft click caught her attention.

The door opened just a crack.

An invitation.

Elsa slipped into the room quickly, locking the door behind her. She joined her sister in the corner of the room, who curled into Elsa's cold welcoming arms the moment she was within arm's reach.

They sat together in silence, allowing their thoughts to fall back on happier memories.

"I'm sorry…" Anna said after a long stretch of silence. "I shouldn't have… you were… I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Elsa ran fingers through her sister's red hair, missing when it was just strawberry blonde all around. No streaks of platinum. No sunset red. Just pure strawberry blonde. Pure Anna. "Your dance was beautiful. I never realized fire could be that way."

Anna eyed the scorch makes marring her floors. She'd made them last night, when her tears had stopped falling and the fire within begged for release once more. She was grateful her room had never been overflowing with furniture, otherwise the castle too would have gone up in a blaze.

She pulled away from her sister's lap then went about the room, gathering fresh clothes for the day.

"You don't have to go out there if you aren't ready Anna. You can still mourn."

"I have to. I have to at least try to fix what I've done." Anna heaved a heavy sigh. "I can't hide in my room all day when there's work to be done."

Elsa rose to her feet, subtly eying the scorch marks on the floor, the walls and the ceiling. She followed Anna out of the room, but stopped her from leaving.

"I'll be at breakfast." She told her.

Anna gave her a tentative smile. "I'll be there."

 

And she was, not twenty minutes later.

The room felt tense when all eyes had fallen on Anna. She approached the long table with apprehension in her stride, her golden eyes were amass with guilt and discomfort.

She took her usual place on Elsa's right then flashed a somewhat strained smile to the remaining guests. Ariel, Melody and Rapunzel returned the expression with genuine, yet slightly melancholy smiles of their own. Eugene's face remained stoic and hard, but his eyes were not as cold or angry as they had been the day before. Too Anna, they looked tired. Sad. Disappointed even.

Kristoff, who didn't normally stay the night at the palace or eat meals with them, tried to give Anna a reassuring smile.

It didn't work.

His unexpected appearance only reminded the red head of the words he had imparted on her before the festival.

Her fire isn't light. It's a curse.

Olaf and Pascal's little entertainment did little to lighten the morose mood. The tenseness everyone felt didn't quite ease fully until their food was brought and they began to eat, grateful for the very safe distraction.

The monarchs were all content to eat in silence, to save Princess Anna anymore despair, but she surprised them all when she asked her sister how the recovery effort was doing and how much damage had truly been done to Arendelle.

"Oh, um," Elsa stammered, caught off guard. She turned to Eugene, having not yet been briefed on the subject.

The male blinked.

"Uh, it's fine." He said with a frown. "They only just started cleaning out the debris, but once the funds pour in we'll be able to rebuild some of the houses as soon as possible."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" She gave Eugene hopeful gold eyes.

He shook his head. "Actually Anna, that's not a good idea. The best thing to do right now is to stay in the castle."

Anna felt her hope die away at the explanation, but Elsa laid down her fork in surprise.

"Why?" She asked.

It was Kristoff who ended up answering. "The people are a little, you know, upset about the, uh, accident."

"That's putting it mildly." Eugene quipped.

Elsa frowned.

"How bad is it?" Anna asked hesitantly.

Eugene and Kristoff shared a glance. "Bad." They said in unison.

"We'll figure something out, don't you worry." Rapunzel smiled in reassurance.

Anna felt inclined to disagree, but ate her breakfast in silence.

 

Eugene had been right. To say the people of Arendelle were upset was putting it mildly. They were downright furious. If the natives of Arendelle were furious, Anna could only imagine how the foreigners must have felt. Traveling from far off places only to arrive to a kingdom that nearly killed them in the process, who wouldn't be angry at that?

Word of Anna's powers spread across the kingdoms like wildfire, just as it had done a year ago when Elsa froze Arendelle.

Elsa spent most of her days apologizing to the monarchs that had attended. She sent letters of remorse for loved ones lost and injured. She cut taxes to appease her angry citizens, spent hours upon hours pleading with the alliances that her sister's display of power was not a threat or a promise of war. It was just simply a tragic accident.

She even received—to her great astonishment and annoyance—letters from royal families across the world asking for Princess Anna's hand in marriage. Those letters she vehemently destroyed and sent a quick reply in the form of a big, fat, NO.

As if she would ever let a man marry her sister for the sake of her powers!

Anna, in all the while, spent most of her time in the castle bouncing between one company to the next. She played with Olaf for a few minutes at a time. The heat she seemed to perpetually spew since her accident in the festival made the petite snowman drip, much to Anna's chagrin.

Kristoff came to see the princess from time to time, but Anna found she was uncomfortable in the blond's presence. Their last conversation kept echoing in her mind every time she saw him, and although she knew he felt guilty for admitting he viewed her magic as a curse, Anna couldn't help but resent him, if only just a little. The little flickering flame she felt within her body burned terribly in his presence.

It wasn't just with Kristoff either. She felt it in her sister's presence as well.

It was beneath them, she knew it was, but Anna couldn't help but feel her sister and Kristoff were constantly muttering "I told you so" behind her back, even when she knew they weren't saying it at all. She got it enough from the look on Eugene's face; received it the angry, disgruntled and terrified expressions from the towns' people.

She hated it.

She spent the first three days since the festival in the garden. She had watched the grass brown with every step she took; had watched her mother's beautiful flowers blacken and wither in face of her heat. She had tried, time and time again, to keep the warmth in control, to not set any more flowers or bushes on fire, yet it was all in vain. In a fit of frustration, she had set the garden on fire on her third day inside, much to Elsa's chagrin and Olaf's great sadness.

He had loved the garden.

On the fourth day following the Great Fire, Anna returned to the courtyard. She sat in the center, listening to the ice walls her sister had only just erected crack and melt from the scorching heat. She spent that day in solitary silence.

On the fifth day, funds from Corona and Copenhagen arrived. Just as promised, Eugene oversaw the rebuilding effort despite Elsa's insistence that he didn't have to.

"You have other things to worry about. Let me and Rapunzel take care of this." He had said and so she let them be.

It was also on the fifth day, when Elsa and Anna were preparing to head for lunch that Vegar came running down the hall, a letter poised in his hands.

"Your majesties!" He called breathlessly. "I ha-have urgent news!" He handed Queen Elsa the envelope before doubling over for air.

Elsa eyed the thick letter with Arendelle's name written in shimmering green ink, a sense of foreboding pooling in her stomach. She flipped over the envelope—blood immediately drained from her face.

The crest of the Southern Isles glared back at her in dry red wax.

Anna frowned, hate bubbling beneath the surface.

"What do they want now?"

Elsa carefully broke the imprinted crest, slowly pulled out the folded sheets of paper and read. A few seconds later, she hastily refolded the offending letter, thanked Vegar for his dutiful delivery then hurried down the hall, Anna scrambling behind.

"Whoa, Elsa! What did the letter say?"

"Not now Anna."

Anna grabbed her sister by the arm and yanked her to a stop. "Elsa! Stop! What did the letter say?" She pressed.

"The Southern Isles are threatening to wage war against us." Elsa replied, blue eyes hard.

Anna felt the scowl form on her freckled features. "Because we didn't let them attend the festival?"

"Because the representative they sent is dead, Anna!"

Anna felt her heart quicken in horror.

"Wh-what?"

Elsa handed her sister the letter for the young woman to read, but the moment Anna's fingers touched the page, they blackened as though burned. The Queen yanked the letter out of her sister's grasp, her beautiful face distorted in an angry glower.

"Control yourself Anna! There's no time for this!" She snapped, despite the frost that crept along the edge of the envelope. "Did you forget? Mikkel read to us the names of the people that arrived at the docks. One of them was a representative of the Southern Isles. He was one of Marcus's younger brothers."

Anna's golden eyes widened in dismay.

"Mikkel said something about him being injured in the fire, but I was so worried about you at the time that I must have forgotten it. His injuries must have proved too much." Elsa said, taking notice of the frost. She wiped it away in annoyance. "Gerda told me that some of the…survivors…chose to brace the voyage home. Andren must have been one of them." She turned on her heel suddenly, ice forming along the rug. "I need to speak with Mikkel immediately."

She glanced over her shoulder.

"Anna, I need you to be there. This concerns all of us."

Without a seconds thought, Anna followed the Queen toward the council room.

 

Silence permeated throughout the room. King Marcus's letter lay at the center of the table, the dried red wax imprinted with the Kingdom's seal seemed to mock everyone in the room.

Anna played nervously with her braid, fiddling and twirling the tail end around her index finger.

Elsa stood in front of the table, eying each and every one of her council members with intense scrutiny.

Rapunzel glared at the letter as though it were at fault for everything while Eugene ran a hand through his chocolate brown locks. The rest of the council members gawked at the letter, their expressions identical.

"What are we going to do?" Elsa asked, her tone serious. "War is not an option. The people of Arendelle are still in mourning. If we go to war, it will only serve to make them hate us more. I need an alternative."

"Her majesty could always marry the princess to—"

"No!" Elsa interjected, the temperature in the room dropping. "I refuse to marry Anna off as a peace treaty! Think of something else."

"We could always go to war." One of the older gentlemen suggested.

Elsa sent a frosty glare his way. He ducked his head shamefully underneath her intense scrutiny.

Anna worried her bottom lip.

"Maybe… maybe I should go to the Southern Isles and ask for their forgiveness personally." Elsa suddenly whirled on her. "It's my fault his brother is dead. It's only right."

"That won't bring Andren back, Anna." Eugene commented.

"At least it shows that we're sorry." She rebuked.

"Anna, if we didn't accept King Marcus's apology, what makes you think he'll accept yours?" Elsa questioned softly. Her expression suddenly hardened. "No, what King Marcus wants is your death. He believes that Arendelle is a threat." Light blue eyes stared at the letter accusingly. "He called us witches, Anna."

Rapunzel and Eugene couldn't suppress the wince that escaped them; the council members all murmuring in offense.

"Aren't we?" Anna asked, golden eyes melancholic.

Elsa didn't say a word.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original A/N:
> 
> Elsa and Anna would like to grace us with a non-cannon song. (because JoMiSm is awesome.)
> 
> Please don't freak out again  
> Please don't burst into flames  
> You don't have to worry about secrets anymorrrre  
> cuz for the first time in forever  
> I finally understand  
> For the first time in forever  
> We can fix this hand in hand  
> We can go out there together  
> and tell them not TO FEEEEEEEAR  
> cuz for the first time in forever  
> I will be right hereeeeeee
> 
> Elsa! Please go back ooooout-  
> side the roooom  
> and face the messes that I've caused  
> (but) I know, you want to stay, but leave me be, my fire's so hot you can barely breathe!  
> Just stay away and you'll be safe from meeeeee


	12. Chapter 12

The council couldn't come up with anything. The idea of going to war with the Southern Isles had shaken them almost as badly as the fire. Elsa adjourned the meeting, claiming they would meet again the following day then dismissed herself and Anna from the room.

They walked around the castle aimlessly, their minds heavy with troubles.

Anna felt burdened with the weight of the world. The guilt she harbored for the last five days tore at her insides just like the fire within. She was angry at herself or not believing in her sister's words and for not accepting Kristoff's honesty. She was angry that her optimism—her hope—had foolishly led her into believing her magic could be just as beautiful as Elsa's.

She had assumed, naively so, that her fire would be less of a hassle than Elsa's ice.

She believed, because it was her, she would be able to control the flames; make them beautiful to behold; to never fear. Fire is light, she thought. Fire is life. All that came to be on the world was because of the sun, with its bright rays. It's warmth. If the sun could be viewed as a beautiful ball of flame then why was it that her fire couldn't be seen as the same?

She had accepted her gift—never cursed it. Had never blocked it; always embraced it. That was why she practiced every chance she got. She wanted to disprove the nonbelievers, to show Elsa that she was capable of this; that magic was a blessing, not a curse.

Who was the fool now?

People are dead. The Kingdom of Arendelle is in partial ruins. Countless of people are injured, suffering. Now a war loomed on the horizon—and why? Because Anna had lost control of herself.

Fire was a horrible mistress.

Now, perhaps, it was time she accepted the truth. Elsa had been born with magic. Anna had simply been cursed.

Her heart suddenly exploded in pain.

She doubled over with a gasp, her hands clutching at her chest.

"Anna? What's wrong?" Elsa made to reach her, but a wave of fire erupted from the ground with a roaring whoosh. She jerked back at the sight, incidentally erecting a jagged wall of ice in between her and the fire wall. "Anna!"

"S-st-stay b-back!" Anna wheezed. She grimaced as another molten hot pain seared across her chest.

Elsa brought forth a shower of snow to extinguish the flaming ball keeping her from Anna. She ran to the young woman's aid and tried to lay a hand on Anna's shoulders, but the red head shoved her away roughly.

With another groan of pain, Anna suddenly bolted down the hallway, her feet burning through the rug.

"Anna!" Elsa cried, following.

Anna felt like her body was on fire, like something was burning her from the inside. It hurt to breathe; her lungs felt constricted; her heart was melting—it had to be.

She ran down the hallway in a blur, mentally pleading her body to stay in control until she was out of the castle, out of the town, away from the world in general.

It wasn't working.

Her flames were begging for release.

She could feel her powers leak away with every step she took, could almost smell the scent of burning rug fibers invade her nostrils. She could practically see the smoke pool into the hallway as she ran. She could hear the crackle of ice run along the walls beside her and feel the cool air try in vain to cool off her overheated body.

A part of her mind barely registered what Elsa was doing—what she could possibly be thinking at this moment.

She was freezing the hallway to keep Anna from burning it down.

The red head wanted to laugh—at the genius behind such a thought—and cry—because Elsa didn't need this. She didn't need any more trouble in the kingdom. Another blaze? No, she had enough trouble as it is. But she neither laughed nor cried, all that came from her mouth was a vain, strangled noise as her heart burned again and again.

She burst out of the castle in a blur of reds and browns. She shoved past a group of guards who had mistakenly crossed her way and scrambled past the castle gates. Her sister was hot on her heels, freezing everything under a protective layer of ice. She called her to stop, yet Anna couldn't hear over the whirling of the wind and the harshness of her breath.

Fire and ice rippled across the town square in frightening speed. The people of Arendelle screamed in horror for the second time in their lives. They scrambled in a mass of unfortunate souls, hoping, praying, begging, that they survived the horrible wrath of their young monarchs.

"We need water!" Demanded one of the guards. "Put out the fire before it spreads!"

Anna dashed through the town, hands held tightly to her chest, the edges of her dress flickering with little licks of fire. She had barely made it to the outskirts of town when a force of heat and flame exploded out of her body in a flash of white-blue. She crumbled to her knees, gasping for breath, as blue flames swirled around her for a second time in five days, licking the snowy ground in leisure.

Elsa stopped a few feet away, her chest heaving; her braid undone. She approached her sister cautiously, but stopped, eying the swirling blue flame uneasily.

"El-Elsa…" Anna gasped. "I'm-I'm sorry…"

"What's happening to you?" The platinum blonde took another step forward. Anna flinched, the flickering wall crackled ominously in response.

"Don't—" the red head pleaded.

"You haven't burned me yet, Anna." Elsa raised a cold hand toward the flickering flame. She shut her eyes, bracing herself for the heat and the pain she knew would soon follow…

…She felt nothing.

Elsa cracked open an eye and saw, to her great astonishment, the blue fire lick across her pale cold hand, caressing her flesh with the lightest of touches. It was warm, yes, but it was akin to the warmth on a spring day rather than the painful, blistering heat fire was accustomed to having. With the discovery in mind, the Snow Queen broke into the circle and enveloped her scared sister into a tight hug.

"Elsa…" Anna cried, burying her nose into her sister's chest.

"Shhh Anna," She cooed, soothing the girl's hot backside. "Listen to me Anna, I'm sorry for not believing in you. I'm sorry that I didn't trust in your judgment, but I need you to listen to me right now, OK? Your fire needs release."

Anna suddenly jerked away from the Queen in disbelief.

"What?!"

"You need to let go." Elsa urged, taking her sister's hands. "Remember what I said about fire and ice being different? I spent thirteen years holding back my powers, Anna. Thirteen years it never bothered me." She looked into her sister's molten, hot gold eyes. "What happens to a volcano when all that heat and magma builds up in its core?"

Anna's eyes widened in understanding.

"You need to let it go," Elsa released her hands. "Before you explode."

"I-I can't. Where would I go?"

"To the Ice Palace."

"But I'll destroy it!"

Elsa gave her sister a sympathetic smile. "And I'll rebuild it." She grabbed a hold of Anna's hands and urged her to her feet. "Please, you have to go. Go to the Ice Palace. I'll call Marshmallow away, just go!"

Anna gave her sister one last hug before heading into the mountains.

 

Kristoff had been aroused from his doze by the sound of thunder. With a snort, he wiped the sleep from his eyes and gazed into the sky.

He frowned.

There wasn't a rain cloud in sight. So where was that thundering coming from?

The blond turned to the side in time to see a crowd of horses galloping his way. A series of black smoke bellowed into the blue sky from Arendelle behind them, reminding the Ice Master of the horrid display of raging fire from merely a few days ago. Kristoff felt his lips form a frown, his heart quickly hammering in his chest. What had happened this time?

Maximus, Eugene's horse, came to a halt beside Sven, who eyed the creature with curiosity.

"Kristoff, have you seen Elsa or Anna?" Eugene asked, a tone of urgency in his voice.

Rapunzel pulled up beside him, her expression marred with worry.

Kristoff felt his expression worsen.

"No. Why? What's going on? Are we being attacked?"

"There's no time to explain. Do you know where they could have gone?"

"The Ice Palace," He replied, mounting Sven. "I'll show you, but I need details. Let's go!"

 

The sun was beginning to set by the time they reached North Mountain.

Elsa stood by the edge, the frozen stairway leading into the castle no longer present. She kept her back turned toward them, her eyes focused worriedly on the seemingly innocent Ice Palace gleaming bright in the setting light. A giant pile of snow lay beside the Queen, alarming Kristoff. He hauled the others to a stop, remembering the last time they had ignored that very same pile. He wasn't in the mood to deal with marshmallow right now.

He dismounted from Sven just as Rapunzel and Eugene did the same. Mikkel, Kai and a few other Arendelle guards hung back with their horses, wary of the eerie calm.

At the crunch of snow, Elsa whirled on them, her wintry blue eyes wide with partial terror and anxiety.

"Stay back!" She urged, feeling a sense of déjà vu overwhelm her (Only this time, the tables had turned.) "Don't come any closer. It's not safe for anyone."

"Where's Anna?" Kristoff asked warily, his eyes on the unmoving mound of snow.

"She's in the palace." Elsa replied. "Please everyone, get away from here!"

"We're not leaving until you plain what the hell is going on!" Eugene demanded.

Elsa's expression hardened in anger mixed with dread. "I don't have ti8me to explain! I need you to—"

A roar of thunder ripped across the sky, startling the horses into a panic. They threw off their riders into the snow and scurried off into the wild, much to Mikkel and Kai's chagrin.

Eugene and Rapunzel held each other in their arms, eyes to the sky, but it wasn't the source of the noise. Another sound bellowed from the direction of the Ice Palace, forcing all eyes to behold the wonder and horror as chunks of ice chipped and cracked, bit by bit, on the palace walls. Smoke whistled out of the cracks, piercing the dusky sky.

"Go! Go! Go!" Elsa ordered, running towards them. "The palace is going to collapse!"

Elsa barely managed to reach Kristoff and the Corona couple when a flash of bright light lit up the sky. She turned with a jerk and felt her eyes widen at the most awe inspiring sight ever to behold.

A vortex of light blue fire swirled high into the sky. It devoured the tallest tower in Elsa's Ice Palace and melted away the rest. Chunks of the castle tumbled over the mountain, a river of freshly melted snow carrying the larger chunks of debris beyond the edge. Steam bellowed into the sky, shrouding the whole mountain in thick clouds.

Kristoff grabbed Elsa by the arm and urged her to follow as they all ran for safety, the scorching steam hurdling towards them.


	13. Chapter 13

The blue pillar of light was a beacon to all who had seen it. It lit up the night sky in a hue of blue reminiscent to the color of Elsa's eyes. It lasted for only five minutes but to Elsa and the others, it felt like hours.

Elsa was the first to return to the mountain with Marshmallow joining her side. The large snowy creature mourned the destruction of his home, but Elsa's concern did not lie at the melted mess of her Ice Palace. She summoned upon the ice to regrow the frozen steps then ran up toward the cliff, her feet refreezing the melted mess.

There was barely a remnant left of the palace.

She found her sister in the center of the water, her hair loose from her braids, her clothes gone without a trace. She had her hands wrapped around herself, not in cold, but to protect her modesty. She turned to Elsa and tentatively smiled.

"I feel better." She whispered.

Elsa pulled her sister into an embrace. "I'm glad," She replied, equally quiet. She held her tightly. She was so happy to feel Anna's flesh again, even if it was warmer than most. "You lit up the sky…"

"Fire is light, Elsa." The princess murmured, feeling drained from the day. "I only wanted people to understand that."

She fell asleep in Elsa's arms, naked as the day she was born and never once minding the cold.

 

She stayed asleep for two days after. It worried her sister, as well as everyone else. Elsa had Gerda and the maids work like clockwork to make sure Anna's needs were tended to. She wanted to be notified of any changes, no matter how miniscule. If her sister's eyes moved or a muscle twitched, Elsa wanted to know. No matter what she was doing, Anna was her top priority, regardless of what the others said.

Luckily for Elsa, the heat wave that had mysteriously gripped Arendelle since the start of the summer seemed to have subsided for the first time. June finally felt the way it should—warm—not scorching. Elsa knew it was because her sister could finally rest easy.

Yet, there was still damage to be corrected.

Rebuilding the town would take more time thanks to the second wave of fire. Thankfully, the damage hadn't been so extensive all in thanks to Elsa's ice. No one had been hurt this time around, only terrified and positively furious. It would take many months until the people of Arendelle could forgive the young princess, but Elsa hoped a few more tax cuts and holidays would ease their anger.

Rapunzel and Eugene stayed in Arendelle a bit longer, wanting to see the princess awaken before their voyage home.

The Corona princess often visited Anna throughout her two day slumber. Sometimes she would come alone and talk about random things she supposed Anna would have liked to hear. Other time, she joined Olaf or Kristoff and listened to them trade stories of much happier times. Then, there were times she would find Elsa sitting by the bed, talking in hushed tones of memories long since passed and unfulfilled childhood dreams thanks to an isolated past. During those times, Rapunzel left her be, not wanting to intrude on something the Queen held so dearly.

Anna woke up from her slumber on the third day. Dawn had yet to rise so her room remained shrouded in darkness. She made to escape the confines of her bed when a shimmer of light hair caught her attention. She found Elsa resting her head by her arm, her beautiful face peaceful in sleep. She reached out to the young woman and flicked her forehead.

Elsa groaned in annoyance.

"Not now Anna," She murmured sleepily.

The red head giggled. "Come on Elsa. The sky's awake so I'm awake. Therefore, we have to play."

Elsa's eyes suddenly snapped open in shock. She immediately lunged into her sister, pulling her close.

"Anna, you're awake!" She cried, tears stinging her eyes. "Oh thank the heavens!"

"How long have I been asleep?" Anna yawned the moment her sister pulled away.

"Two days."

"Two days?!"

"You were exhausted." Elsa examined her sister's blue eyes, unbelievably thankful of their normal hue. "How do you feel?"

Anna smiled. "For the first time in a long time, I feel normal."

"I'm glad."

The princess's expression immediately turned somber as a thought popped into mind.

"What's going to happen between Arendelle and the Southern Isles?" She asked, soothing out her blankets.

"I don't know," Elsa confessed. "If worse comes to worse, we'll go to war. Mikkel and some of the council members thought it'd be wise to re-instate the trade with them as an apology for the death of their prince. It isn't much, but it's something."

"At least they're not asking me to marry anyone." The red head joked.

Elsa quickly avoided the girl's gaze.

Anna's laughter choked off.

"They aren't right? They're not seriously…?"

"King Marcus did propose it as an alternative to war…" Elsa trailed off.

"Please tell me you didn't accept it!" Anna pleaded, suddenly anxious.

"Of course I didn't!" The Queen huffed, flicking the girl on her forehead. "If I didn't allow you to marry Hans, what makes you think I would allow them to marry you? No, I simply purposed the trade as a better alternative."

Anna fell back against the pillow, a content smile on her face.

The sister's sat in silence as pink began to light the sky. They watched the sun rise beyond the horizon through Anna's window, wondering what daybreak would bring them.

"I looked into Father's journal a few weeks back." Elsa started after a while. "I thought maybe I could figure out some answers about your powers."

"Did you?"

Elsa shook her head. "Not yet, but I'll find something. There are many more journals in the study for me to read."

Anna hummed thoughtfully.

 

With the Southern Isles bid for war momentarily delayed, Elsa poured her thoughts into other important matters. She rebuilt the Ice palace for Marshmallow's benefit. It was just as grand and magnificent as the first time she had created it, and watching it unfold for the first time was just as awe inspiring to Anna, Kristoff, Rapunzel and Eugene as Anna's vortex of blue fire.

She took down the walls of the frozen courtyard now that the whole Kingdom was aware of Anna's magic. She helped her sister practice, watched her dance amongst the flames and, for the first time, marveled at the beauty of fire.

Sometimes they had an audience watch in on their practices. Olaf was a constant spectator. He would clap and cheer whenever both sisters displayed their power. Kristoff came by every now and again, still wary of the ice and fire, but trusted in the girl's judgment. Eugene was in like mind for that sentiment.

Rapunzel enjoyed watching them practice the most. It was usually between her and Olaf making requests; from ice sculptures to fiery images, she wanted to see it all!

But with all things in life, their stay was at an end.

Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, Sven and Olaf met up with Rapunzel and Eugene by the docks. Maximus and Blondie were led into the ship, neighing with relief to be finally heading home.

Pascal felt the same, although the chameleon was saddened to leave his friend behind. Olaf gave the chameleon a friendly pat on the head and said, "Don't be sad, we'll see each other again! Rapunzel's birthday ball is next month!"

Pascal curled his reptilian tail in agreement. He crawled up Rapunzel's leg excitedly, looking forward to the next time they saw each other again. Rapunzel gave each sister a warm hug, holding them tight and whispering well wishes into their ears.

Eugene and Kristoff shared a quick embrace before the women could see. They shook hands for good measure, coughing a little in embarrassment when Olaf gave them an 'I saw what you just did there' smirk.

Rapunzel pulled away from Anna reluctantly, her leaf green eyes glassy with tears.

"I had fun," She said softly. "Even with the festival…It was still an experience. Your performance Anna… Elsa's frozen wonderland… your magic is beautiful."

"Don't let anyone tell you otherwise." Eugene added, wrapping an arm around Rapunzel. "As long as you ladies don't go crazy, of course." He added as an afterthought.

Elsa and Anna gave him a playful smirk, but internally promised never to break their promise. After all, even a beautiful rose has its thorns.

"Have a safe voyage you two," Elsa said, flashing them a beautiful smile.

"We hope to see you at the ball next month. There will be cake!" Rapunzel winked.

"We wouldn't miss it for the world!" Anna promised, her sister nodding in agreement.

Rapunzel and Eugene boarded the Corona ship. They had only just began to wave goodbye when an old falcon suddenly came hurtling out of the sky. Anna and Elsa barely managed to duck out of the way and watched in surprise as the bird crashed into Kristoff's broad chest. A letter fell from its talons in the process. It flapped frantically away from the blond's torso in a dizzy before taking off into the sky. It flew a few feet before perching on one of the sale masses on Corona's ship.

They heard Eugene burst into laughter as the ship pulled out into the sea, his voice carrying with the wind.

Olaf picked up the fallen letter and handed it to Elsa, who took it with a smile and waved farewell to the sailing ship.

"Stupid bird," Kristoff muttered, wiping off his shirt. He turned to the ladies and said, "I think I'll go home and wash up. I have a lot of orders to fill today. What are you two going to do?"

Elsa and Anna glanced at each other.

"We were thinking of rebuilding the garden." Anna replied. "Olaf brought in a lot of new flowers he wanted to plant."

"That's right!" the snow man piped up. "Rapunzel even gave me a few seeds that are native to Corona."

Kristoff smirked. "Alright then. See you ladies." He and Sven gave them a playful bow then turned toward the square. Olaf bid his goodbyes to the ladies as well, wanting to get the seeds ready for their plantation before they started.

Elsa and Anna stood at the docks, watching the last of Corona's ship disappear into the horizon.

"Are we going to be OK?" Anna asked as the wind swept through them. She turned to Elsa, dark blue eyes curious.

Elsa reached out for Anna's hand and squeezed in reassurance.

"Yes, I believe so." She replied, a complacent smile on her face. "Come on, let's meet up with Olaf and get started on Mother's garden before it's too dark to see."

With a jubilant laugh, the girls turned on their heels and made way for the castle, sharing thoughts and plans on how to better the castle garden.

The situation with the Southern Isles may not have been entirely diffused and Anna's fire continued to weigh heavily on Elsa's mind, but for the moment, the Arendelle sisters were content in taking the day one step at a time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Leave a comment or kudos or something, I love hearing from readers!


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